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THE 



^^smMm-cumom letters. 



BEIKG 

THE 



COEEESPONDENCE 



BETWEEN 






FBOM 1767 TO 17 



SI, 



^oneernin^. Western Lands. 

™ «-.™™.. «,„;;:: [;^;7- ^«.oa» 



B>r C. W. BUTTEEHEID. 



CINCINNATI- VVci V 

1877. 



/^ 







■ 031 



Entered, accor 



ROBERT CLARKE & CO. 
„f,V,e Librarian of Congress 



at Washington. 







r^'-^ 



X 



y- 



PREFACE. 



The following correspondence, largely a private one, kept up 
for nearly fourteen years, between Washington and William 
Crawford, is now given to the public with the belief that, in 
its revelations of the beginning of western land speculation, 
and the part taken therein by the writers, a contribution of 
value is made to American history. Much interest is added 
to these Letters because of their bringing to light incidents of 
importance, before but little known, in the earl^'^ settlement of 
the trans-Alleghany region, and in Lord Dunmore's War. 

Washington's letters, at a later date, to other parties, w^herein 
he particularly describes his western lands, are well calcu- 
lated to astonish the reader — so large and valuable were the 
tracts he had secured. The letters of Valentine Crawford will 
be found curious in their developments concerning Washing- 
ton's personalty, as well as realty, in the Ohio Valley; and 
graphic in their allusions to the panic which seized the fron- 
tier people upon the commencement of hostilities with the In- 
dians, in 1774. Several links also in the chain of western 
annals, heretofore considered as lost, are restored by them. 

The awful death of William Crawford, by torture, at the 
hands of merciless savages, soon after the close of this corres- 
pondence, gives it a melancholy interest which otherwise 
would not attach to it — heightened, as it is by the knowledge 
that his fate not only greatly affected Washington, but caused 

(iii) 



IV PREFACE. 



a profound sensation, at the tin^e, throughout the United 

States. No ofificer of the American army, during the Eevolu- 

tion, perished so miserably. So long as the history of our 

country shall be read, the liveliest sympathy will continue 

to be excited at the recital of his dreadful sufferings, in what 

was then the far-off wilds of Sandusky. 

C. W. B. 
Madison, Wisconsin, A2ml, 1877. 



CONTENTS. 



y Page. 

:No. 1. Washington to William Crawford, Sept. 21, 1767 1- 

" 2. William Crawford to Washington, Sept. 29, 1767 5 • 

" 3. " " " " Jan. 7, 1769 10 ' 

" 4. " " " " Oct. 13, 1769 13- 

" 5. " " " " May 5, 1770 13' 

" 6. " " " " Dec. 6, 1770 16' 

" 7. " " " " Apr. 15, 1771 17' 

" 8. " " " " Apr. 20, 1771 18" 

" 9. '• " " " Aug. 2, 1771 20' 

" 10. William Crawford to Tilghman, Aug. 9, 1771 22 

" 11. Washington to William Crawford, Dec. 6, 1771 23' 

" 12. William Crawford to Washington, Mar. 15,1772 24 • 

" 13. " " " " May. 1,1772 26* 

" 14. " " " " Dec. 3, 1772 27' 

" 15. Washington to Lord Dunmore, Apr. 13,1773 27' 

" 16. Washington to William Crawford, Sept. 25, 1773 29' 

" 17. " " " " " " " 33' 

" 18. William Crawford to Washington, Nov. 12,1773 34' 

" 19. " " " " No date 36" 

" 20. " " " " Dec. 29, 1773 37' 

" 21. " " " " Jan. 10,1774 40* 

" 22. " " " " Jan. 15,1774 41' 

" 23. William Crawford to John Penn, Apr. 8, 1774 42 

" 24. William Crawford to Washington, May 8, 1774 46' 

" 25. " " " " June 8, 1774 50, 

" 26. " " " " Sept. 20, 1774 52- 

" 27. " " " " Nov. 14, 1774 54- 

" 28. " " " " Feb. 5, 1775 57' 

" 29. " " " " Mar. 6, 1775 58' 

" 30. " " " " Sept. 20, 1776 59 

" 31. " " " " Feb. 12, 1777 62 

" .32. William Crawford to Congress, Apr. 22, 1777 64 

" 33. William Crawford to Edward Hand, Jan. 4, 1778 66 

" 34. Washington to Board of War, May 23, 1778 67* 

" 35. William Crawford to Washington, July 12,1779 70 

" 36. " " " " Aug. 10, 1779 73 

" 37. " " " " May 23, 1781 75 

(v) 



APPENDIX. 



I. 

Letters of "Washington, detcriptite op his Western Lands and con- 
cerning THE Leasing and Selling of them. 

Page. 

Washington to John Witherspoon, Mar. 10, 1784- 77- 

" " Thomas Freeman, Sept. 23, 1785 79- 

" Presley Neville, June 16, 1794 81- 



IL 



Valentine Crawford's Letters to Washington. 



Valentine Crawford to Washington, Apr. 

May 



(vi) 



27,1774 84, 

6,1774 85. 

7, 1774 86. 

13, 1774 88' 

25,1774 89. 



June 8, 1774. 



90* 
92 ' 
94 • 
97 • 



July 27, 1774 

Oct. 1, 1774 

Mar. 23,1775 100' 

June 24, 1775 101 - 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 



WILLIAM CRAWFORD. 



William Crawford was born about the year 1722, in West- 
moreland county, Virginia, — the family early removing to Fred- 
erick county, beyond the Blue Eidge. Hei-e he married Hannah 
Vance. Although learning of Washington the art of surveying, 
yet his principal duties were such as appertain to a farmer's life. 
In 1755, he forsook the compass and the plow for 

" The pomp and circumstance of glorious war," 

receiving from the governor of Virginia a commission as ensign. 
He vi'as first employed in garrison dut}", or as a scout upon the 
frontiers. In 1758, he marched with the Virginia troops under 
Washington to Fort Duqucsne, wliich ]>ost was reached and oc- 
cupied in November. Crawford remained in the service, being 
promoted first to a lieutenantcy — afterwards commissioned as 
captain. At the close of hostilities, he returned to his home and 
resumed his labors of farmer and surveyor. In Pontiac's War, 
wdiich followed the Seven Years' War, he took an active part, 
doing effective service in protecting the frontiers from savage 
incursions. 

While in the Virginia army, Crawford became familiar with 
the country watered by the Monongahela and its branches. He 
bad, indeed, become enamored of the trans-Alleghany region, 
and resolved, at some future day, to make it his home. The 
time had now arrived to put his resolution into practical ef- 
fect. Early, therefore, in the summer of 1765, he reached the 
Youghiogheny river ; where, at a place then known as " Stewart's 
Crossings," in what is now Fayette county, Pennsylvania, he 
chose his future I'esidence, moving his family, consisting of his 
wife and three children, over the mountains in the sj)ring of 
1766. To Crawford, at this place, the next j'ear, Washington 

(vii) 



Vlll BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

directed his letter of the twcntj^-firlt of September — the begin- 
ning of the coiTespondence set forth in the following pages. 
There had already been an intimacy between him and Crawford 
of not less than twenty years' standing; so that in writing to 
the latter in his new home beyond the Alleghanies, Washington 
was but corresponding with an old and tried friend. It will be 
seen that this correspondence was continued until near the time 
of the tragic scene which closed in horror the eventful life of 
Crawford. 

Among the first employments of Crawford after his removal, 
besides ftirming, were survejnng and trading with the Indians. 
During the year 1770, he was appointed one of the justices of 
the peace for his county — Cumberland, then the most westerly 
county of Pennsylvania. In the autumn of that year, he re- 
ceived a visit, at his humble cabin upon the Youghiogheny, from 
Washington, who was then on a tour down the Ohio. Crawford 
accompanied his friend to the Great Kanawha — the party re- 
turning to "Stewart's Crossings" late in November, whence 
Washington leisurely made bis way back to Mt. Yernon. 

In March, 1771, Bedford count}^ having been formed from 
that part of Cumberland including the home of Crawford, he 
was appointed by Governor Pen n one of the justices of the peace 
for the new county ; and in 1773, the erection of Westmore- 
land from Bedford taking in his residence, he was commissioned 
one of the "Justices of the Court of Cleneral Quarter Sessions of 
the Peace, and of the County Court of Common Pleas" for that 
county. As he was first named on the list of justices, he became 
by courtesy and usage the President Judge of Westmoreland — 
the first to hold that office in the county. He was, the same 
year, appointed surveyor for the Ohio Company, by the College 
of William and Mary. 

In 1773, Lord Dunmore, then Governor of Yirginia, paid a 
visit to Crawford at his house upon the Youghiogheny, the occa- 
sion being turned to profitable account by both parties: by the 
Earl, in getting reliable information of desirable lands ; by Craw- 
ford, in obtaining promises for ])atents for such as he had sought 
out and surveyed. The next year — 1774 — occurred "Lord Dun- 
more's War," a conflictbetween the Yirginians on the one side, and 
the Shawanese and Mingoes, principally, on the other. In this 
contest Crawford was a prominent actor; — first as captain of 
a company on a scouting expedition, building, subsequently, a 



WILLIAM CRAWFORD. IX 

fort at tlie present site of Wlieeling; afterward as major in 
command of troops belonging to the division of the army 
which descended the Ohio to tlic month of Hocking river, 
in Avhat is now the State of Ohio. The only fighting done in 
the Indian country after the bloody battle of Point Pleasant on 
the tenth of October, was by a detachment under Crawford, in 
what is now Franklin county, Ohio, where he surprised and de- 
stroyed two Mingo villages, securing some prisoners as well as a 
considerable amount of plunder, and rescuing two white captives. 

The interest taken by Crawford in this war operated greatly 
to prejudice his Pennsylvania friends against him; for among 
them the conflict had been an exceedingly unpopular one. Craw- 
ford, who, at first, had sided with Pennsylvania in the boundary 
controversy subsisting between it and Virginia, now took part 
with the latter; so he was ousted from all offices hold by him 
under authority of the former province. In December, ITT-J:, he 
had been commissioned by Dunmore a justice of the peace and 
a justice of 03a^r and Terminer for the county of Augusta, the 
court to be held at Fort Dunmore (Pittsburgh). He did not 
qualify, however, for these offices, until after he had been super- 
seded in those held by him under Pennsylvania authority. 
Augubta county, as claimed by Virginia, included Crawford's 
home upon the Youghiogheny ; afterwards it was in the District 
of West Augusta, and finally in Yohogania county, until Virginia, 
in 1779, relinquished her claim to Southwestern Ponns3dvania. 
Crawford not only took office under Virginia, but he became an 
active partizan in extending the jurisdiction of his native prov- 
ince over the disputed territory. Some of his acts were doubt- 
less oppressive, though he soon atoned for them in his patriotic 
course upon the breaking out of the Eevolution. The partizan 
feeling in his breast immediately gave place to the noble one of 
patriotism. He struck hands with Pennsylvanians in the cause 
of libert3\ 

In 1776, Crawford entered the Hevolutionary service as lieu- 
tenant-colonel of the Fifth Virginia regiment — William Peachy, 
colonel. He remained with his regiment until called to the 
command of the Seventh in place of William Dangerfield re- 
signed. Afterwards being assigned to the duty of raising 
a new regiment — the Thirteenth Virginia — he resigned his 
command of the Seventh. His time thus far had been spent 
east of the mountains ; but now, late in the year, he returned to 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 



his homo, as the Thirteenth — " "West Auij-ustii rea;iment" — was to 
be raised west of the Alleghanies. In August, 1777, with about 
two hundred of his new levies, Crawford joined the main army 
under Washington, who was then near Philadelphia. He ren- 
dered efficient service in the preliminary movements which re- 
sulted in the battle of Brandywine, and in that contest not only 
took an active and prominent part, but came near being cap- 
tured. He was also, it seems, in the battle of Germantown. 
Just befoi'e this. General Joseph Eeed wrote Washington that he 
had " Colonel Crawford " with him, " a very good officer." 

Late in 1777, Crawford returned to his home, having been sent 
to the West by Washington to take a command under Brigadier- 
General Edward Hand. The Commander-in-chief, in writing to 
the Board of War on the twenty-third of the following May (see 
Letter 'No. 34), sj)oke of Crawford as " a brave and active offi- 
cer." His being ordered to the Western Department, lost him 
the command of the Thirteenth Virginia and his place in the 
Continental line, which Washington, although he regretted the 
circumstance, could not get restored to him. Under Brigadier- 
General Lachlan Mcintosh, who succeeded Hand in August, 1778, 
at Pittsburgh, Crawford took command of the militia of the 
Western counties of Virginia and had in charge the building of 
Fort Mcintosh at what is now Beaver, in Beaver County, Penn- 
sylvania. He marched with that officer into the Indian country 
in November, in command of a brigade, and was present at the 
building in December of Fort Laurens, upon the west bank of 
the Tuscarawas river, in what is now Tuscarawas county, Ohio. 
He returned soon after to his home with but few prospects be- 
fore him in a military way, nevertheless he lost no opportunity, 
when called upon, in serving his country; for he still held his 
commission as colonel, and continued to hold it until his death. 

Notwithstanding the time spent by him in the army, Crawford 
still found leisure to fill several positions of honor and trust 
to which he had been called by his fellow-citizens at home. In 
November, 1776, he was appointed deputy-surveyor of Yoho- 
gania county, and sat at intervals in 1777 and the following year 
as one of its judges. In 1778, he was one of the commissioners 
for adjusting and settling the boundary line between Yohogania 
and Ohio counties, Virginia ; and, in 1779, was commissioned as 
surveyor of his county, continuing in that office until going upon 
the expedition which cost him his life. It was in May, 1782, at 



WILLIAM CRAWFOED, XI 

the urgent solicitation of Brigadier-General William Irvine, then 
in command of the Western Department, that Crawford volun- 
teered upon a campaign against the Wyandot Indians living upon 
the Sandusky river, in the Northwestern part of what is now the 
State of Ohio. Elected to command the expedition, he marched, 
with less than five hundred borderers, into the western wilder- 
ness ; fought the savages on the fourth of June with success, but 
was obliged the next day to retreat. He was soon after captured 
by the Delawares, and, on the eleventh, tortured at the stake 
bj^them, on a tributary of the Sandusky, in what is now Wyan- 
dot county, Ohio, with all the atrocity which savage ingenuity 
could devise. His awful sufferings were prolonged for a period 
of over four hours, when death put an end to his jnisery ! 



THE 



WASHINGTON- CRAWFORD 
LETTERS. 



1^0. 1. — Washington to Crawford. 

Mount Yernon, Septe7nber 21, 17G7. 

Dear Sir : — From a sudden hint of your brother's,^ I 
wrote to yon a few days ago in a hurry. Having since had 
more time for reflection, I now write deliberately, and with 
greater precision, on the subject of my last letter. 

I then desired the favor of you (as I understood rights 
might now be had for the lands which have fallen within 
the Pennsylvania liue,)^ to look me out a tract of about 
fifteen hundred, two thousand, or more acres somewhere 
in your neighborhood, meaning only by this, that it may 
be as contiguous to your own settlement^ as such a body 
of good land can be found. It will be easy for you to con- 
ceive that ordinary or even middling lands would never 
answer my purpose or expectation, so far from navigation, 

^The brother of William Crawford, here refei-red to as having given 
Washington his first "hint" concerning the obtaining of a tract of 
land under Pennsylvania "rights," in the trans-Alleghany countiy, 
was Valentine Crawford. 

^ By the "Pennsylvania line," Wasiiington meant the boundary line 
between Pennsylvania and Virginia, which, at that date, was being run 
beyond the Alleghany mountains. His understanding as to "rights" 
was erroneous, as will hereafter be seen. 

'Crawford's residence was on the south side of the Yougtiiogheny 
river, at what is now the village of New Haven, opposite the present 
town of Connellsville, in Fayette couiity, Pennsylvania. The date of 
his first improvements was the fall of 17G5. In the spring of the year 
following, he settled there permanently. 



2 WASHINGTON-CRAWFORD LETTERS. 

and under such a load of expenses as these lands are in- 
cumhered with. No ; a tract to please me must be rich (of 
which no person can be a better judge than yourself), and, 
if possible, level. Could such a piece of land be found, 
you would do me a singular favor in falling upon some 
method of securing it immediately from the attempts of 
others, as nothing is more certain than that the lands can 
not remain long ungrauted, when once it is known that 
rights are to be had. 

The mode of proceeding I am at a loss to point out to 
you ; but, as your own lands are under the same circumstan- 
ces, self-interest will naturally lead you to an inquiry. I am 
told that the land or surveyor's othce is kept at Carlisle. 
If so, I am of opinion that Colonel Armstrong,^ an ac- 
quaintance of mine, has something to do in the direction 
of it, and I am persuaded he would readily sei've me. I 
will write to him by the first opportunity on that subject, 
that the way may be prepared for your application to him, if 
you find it necessary. For your trouble and expense you may 
depend on being repaid. It is possible, but I do not know 
that it really is the case, that the custom in Penns3'lvania 
will not admit so large a quantity of land as I require to 
be entered together; if so, this may perhaps be arranged 
by making several entries to the same amount, if the ex- 
pense of doing it is not too heavy. This I only drop as a 
hint, leaving the whole to your discretion and good man- 
agement. If the land can only be secured from others, it 
is all I want at present. The surveying I would choose to 
postpone, at least till the spring, when, if you can give me 
any satisfactory account of this matter, and of what I am 
next going to propose, I expect to pay you a visit about 
the last of April. 

■^ John Armstrong. In September, 1156, as Lieutenant-Colonel, he 
led an expedition, composed of Pennsylvania troops and volunteers, 
from Fort Shirley, now Shirleysburg, Huntingdon count}', Pennsyl- 
vania, against an Indian village upon the east side of the Alleghany 
river, above Fort Pitt, called Kittanning, which was completely suc- 
cessful. The town was upon the site of the present Kittanning, Arm- 
strong county. 



LETTER I. 



1 offered in my last to join 3^011 in attempting to secure 
some of the most valuable lands in the King's part, which I 
think may be accomplished after awhile, notwithstanding 
the proclamation that restrains it at present, and prohibits 
the settling of them at all ; for I can never look upon that 
proclamation in any other light (but this I say between 
ourselves) than as a temporary expedient to quiet the minds 
of the Indians. It must fall, of course, in a few years, es- 
pecially when those Indians consent to our occupying the 
lands.^ Auy person, therefore, who neglects the present 
opportunity of- hunting out good lands, and in some meas- 
ure marking and distinguishing them for his own, in order 
to keep others from settling them, will never regain it. If 
you will be at the trouble of seeking out the lands, I will 
take upon me the part of securing them, as soon as there 
is a possibility of doing it, and will, moreover, be at all the 
cost and charges of surveying and patenting the same. 
You shall then have such a reasonable proportion of the 
whole as we may fix upon at our first meeting ; as I shall 
find it necessary, for the better furthering of the design, to 
let some of my friends be concerned in the scheme, who 
must also partake of the advantages. 

By this time it may be easy for you to discover that my 
plan is to secure a good deal of land. You will conse- 
quently come in for a very handsome quantity ; and as you 
will obtain it without au}" costs or expenses, I hope you 
will be encouraged to begin the search in time. I would 
choose, if it were practicable, to get large tracts together ; 
and it might be desirable to have them as near your settle- 
ment or J^'ort Pitt^ as they can be obtained of good qual- 

'The proclamation referred to was the King's proclamation of 1763, 
prohibiting all governors from granting warrants for lands to the west- 
ward of the sources of the rivers which run into the Atlantic, and for- 
bidding all persons purchasing such lands or settling on them without 
special license from the Crown. The region that Washington desig- 
nated as " the King's part" was outside of Pennsylvania. 

2 A fortress at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at that date. The fort, pre- 
vious to its occupation by the English in 1758, was called, by the 
French, Fort Duquesne. 



WASHINGTON-CEAWrOED LETTERS. 



ity, but not to neglect others •t a greater distance, if fine 
bodies of it lie in one place. It may be worthy of your in- 
quiry to find out how the Maryland back line will run/ 
and what is said about laying off Neale's grant. I will in- 
quire particularly concerning the Ohio Company/ that we 
may know what to apprehend from them. For my own 
part, I should have no objection to a grant of land upon the 
Ohio, a good way below Pittsburgh, but would first willingly 
secure some valuable tracts nearer at hand. 

I recommend, that you keep this whole matter a secret, 
or trust it only to those in whom you can confide, and who 
can assist you in bringing it to bear by their discoveries of 
land. This advice proceeds from several very good reasons, 
and, in the first place, because I might be censured for the 
opinion I have given in respect to the King's proclamation, 
and then, if the scheme I am now proposing to you were 
known, it might give the alarm to others, and, by putting 
them upon a plan of the same nature, before we could lay 
a proper foundation for success ourselves, set the difterent 
interests clashing, and, probably, in the end, overturn the 
whole. All this may be avoided by a silent management, 
and the operation carried on by you under the guise of 
hunting game, which you may, I presume, effectually do, 
at the same time you are in pursuit of land. When this is 
fully discovered, advise me of it, and if there appears but 
a possibility of succeeding at any time hence, I will have 
the lands immediately surveyed, to keep others off, and 
leave the rest to time and my own assiduit3\ 

If this letter should reach your hands before you set out, 

^ See P. S. to CrawforcVs reply (Letter No. 2). 

^This comiiaRy was organized in 1748. Its members resided in Vii-- 
ginia and Maryland, with an associate in London — fourteen persons in 
all. Its object was the settling of the wild lands west of the Alle- 
ghany mountains, and to trade with the Indians. Its members ob- 
tained a grant from the Crown of five hundred thousand acres of land, to 
be chiefly taken on the south side of the Ohio, between the Monongahela 
and the Kanawha. The company was alive at the date of the above 
letter, but no lands had been surveyed. The Kevolution put an end 
to its existence. 



LETTER ir. 5 



I should be glad to have your thoughts fully expressed on 
the plan here proposed, or as soon afterwards as conve- 
nient ; for I am desirous of knowing in due time how you 
approve of the scheme. I am, etc.^ 



Kg. 2. — Crawford to "Washington. 

Sejyfember 29, 1767. 

Dear Sir : — I was favored with two letters from you, one 
dated the 13th and the other the 17th^ instant. 

I believe I can procure you what land you want in Penn- 
sjdvania, but can not tell what quantity they will allow in 
a survey: I shall inform myself the first opportunity. I 
have been through a great part of the good land on the 
north side of the Monongahela,^ as far up as the mouth of 
Cheat river* and on both sides of the Youghiogheny^ to 
the mouth and all its branches on the western side of the 
mountains. The chief part of the good land is taken up 
between the two rivers. When I came down there was 
some unsettled, yet very good, which I think would please 
you. Few or none had settled over the Monongahela, as 

^This letter is one of two from Washington to Crawford, published 
by Jared Sparks, in his Writings of Washington. (Vol. II, pp. 346- 
350.) 

^Crawford has here incorrectly given the date of Washington's sec- 
ond letter. It was written on the 21st. At that period, it was eight 
days of ordinary travel from Mt. Vernon to the home of Crawford. 

^The Monongahela is formed by the West Fork and Tygart's Valley 
rivers, West Virginia. After receiving on the right two principal trib- 
utaries — Cheat river and the Youghiogheny — it unites at Pittsburgh 
with the Alleghany, to form the Ohio. 

* Cheat river is formed by the junction of Shavers, Laurel, Glade, 
and Dry Forks, in West Virginia. It enters the Monongahela on the 
right, at the southwest extremity of Fayette county, Pennsylvania. 

^ The Youghiogheny (pronounced Yoh-ho-ga-nee) rises in West Vir- 
ginia, flows through Maryland into Pennsylvania, and enters the Mo- 
nongahela on the right, fifteen miles south of Pittsbui-gh. 



6 WASHINGTOX-CRAWFORD LETTERS. 

they did not care to settle theWB for fear of disturbing tlie 
Indians.i 

I have pitched upon a fine piece of land on a stream 
called Chartier's creek, near the head, about twenty-live 
miles from Fort Pitt. It empties into the Ohio about five 
miles below the fort on the south side.^ The land consists 
of low bottoms, from a quarter to half a mile wide. The 
upland is as level as common for that country to be — rich 
and well-timbered; the stream is a good one, fit for water- 
works. There may be had, in one tract, about two or three 
thousand acres or better, I believe, where I was on the 
creek ; and I am told by the Indians that it holds good down 
to the mouth. You may, if you please, join me in that, if no 
person has taken it before I get out. The chiefest danger 
is from the fort,^ as I understand there have some survey- 
ors gone up lately from Pennsylvania,^ in order to run out 
some land ; but when or for whom, I know not. I will get 
you what you want near my settlement, if it should not be 
all taken up before I get out, 

I have hands now engaged to work for me ; and when I 
go out, I shall raise a cabin and clear some land on any I 
shall like or think will suit you. I shall take a set of sur- 
veyor's instruments,^ and pitch upon a beginning, and run 
round the whole, and slash down some bushes, taking the 
several courses, which will enable you the better to make 
the entry. 

As to the land on the King's side of the line, there have 
but few settled there yet, or had when I came down ; as the 
line runs farther south of Pittsburgh than was ever imag- 
ined. The line crosses Cheat river at McCulloch's Land- 

^ The Six "Nations (including the Mingoes), with the Delawares and 
Shawanese, claimed, at this date, the whole counti'y west of the Alle- 
ghany mountains, lying upon the Ohio. 

-Chartier's creek rises in Washington county, Pennsylvania, flows a 
north-northeast course, and empties into the Ohio on the left, a short 
distance below Pittsburgh. 

^ Fort Pitt. 

* " From Pennsylvania ;" — that is, from over the Alleghany mountains. 

* Crawford was a surveyor. He learned the art of Washington, while 
the latter was surveying for Lord Fairfax. 



LETTER II. 



ing, about five miles from the mouth. They have run as 
ftir as Monougahela, but are stopped there by the Indians/ 
Avho, I understand, sa}^ they shall not run any farther till 
they are paid for the land. This will put a stop to the 
line being run till a council is held, and the result of it is 
known. But as to the truth of this, I do not know, as it 
was only flying news ; but 1 am ready to think there may 
be something in it, as the Indians are not paid for the land. 
They have told me they could not tell the reason that Sir 
William Johnson^ should ask them for land to settle his 
poor people on, and then not pay them for it, nor allow the 
poor people to settle on it. Some of them say they believe 
some of the great men in Philadelphia want to take the 
land themselves; but, however, be that as it may, it can 
not be settled until the line is run, and then the Crown will 
know what each has to pay the Indians for, which would 
have been done this fall if the}' had not been stopped. 
There is no liberty for settling in Pennsylvania — or in that 
part supposed to be in that province — yet f but I believe 

^ The party running the line reached the Monongahela on the 27th, 
two days before the date of Crawford's letter. The surveyors were 
not actually stopped at the river, but at a point a little west of what 
is now Mount Morris, in Greene county, Pennsylvania. It was seven- 
teen years before the line was extended farther. 

^Sir William Johnson resided in the Mohawk valley, in the province 
of Xew York. He was, at that date, colonial agent and sole superin- 
tendent of the affairs of the Six Nations and other northern tribes. 
He received his appointment from King George II. 

^Not only was there " no liberty for settling in Pennsylvania" west 
of the mountains at that date, but settlers, except such as had pemnits 
from the military authorities, were considered as trespassers upon 
Indian territory. In February following, a law was passed inflicting 
the severest penalties against any who should remain beyond the Alle- 
ghanies within the limits of that province, with the exceptions before 
mentioned. Happily, however, at the treaty of Fort Stanwix, in the 
ensuing autumn, the Indians disposed of their lands southeast of the 
Ohio ; and the proprietaries of Pennsylvania purchased a large tract, 
including all the territory west of the mountains as far north as Kit- 
tanning on the Alleghany river, and bounded on the west and south 
by the limits of that province. This took in all the western settle- 
ments within its charter lines, and put an end, for some years, ^to 
troubles with the Indians in that section. 



8 WASHINGTON-CEAWrORD LETTERS. 

there would be as soon as tl»e line was rnn. The line, if 
run out, would go over Monongahela about thirty miles. 
"Where the north line will cross the Ohio river, I do not 
know until I see the end of the west line. Then I can 
come pretty near to it ; but I am apt to think it will cross 
below Fort Pitt; of that I shall be better able to satisfy 
you in my next letter.^ 

With regard to looking out land in the King's part, I 
shall heartily embrace your offer upon the terms you pro- 
posed ; and as soon as I get out and have my affairs settled 
in regard to the first matters proposed, I shall set out in 
search of the latter. This may be done under a hunting 
scheme (which I intended before you wrote me), and I had 
the same sch.eme in my head, but was at a loss how to ac- 
complish it. I wanted a- person in whom I could confide 
— one whose interest could answer my ends and his own. 
I have had several offers, but have not agreed to any; nor 
will I with any but yourself or whom you think proper. 

There will be a large body of land on the south side of 
the west line toward the heads of Monongahela waters, 
and head-waters of Greenbrier^ and New river ;^ but the 
latter I am apt to think will be taken before I can get to 
see it, as I understand there have been some gentlemen 
that way this summer — Dr. Walker* and some others; but 

^Crawford's idea of the southern and western boundary of Pennsyl- 
vania west of the Alleghanies was pretty nearly correct; but he, along 
with many other Virginians in that region, afterward changed his 
mind. 

^The Greenbrier river rises at the base of the Greenbrier mountain, 
in West Virginia, flowing south-westward until it enters New river. 

^New river, at that date, was a name frequently given to the 
Kanawha. It is now restricted to the upper portion, above the mouth 
of the Gauley, in West Virginia, while all below is known as the Great 
Kanawha. The latter enters the Ohio on the left, at Point Pleasant, 
a distance of two hundred and sixty-seven miles, by the course of the 
river, below Pittsburgh. In early times, the name was generally 
written Kenhawa. 

* Thomas Walker was born in King and Queen county, Virginia, in 
the year 1710. He studied medicine and became a skillful physician. 
His home was at ''Castle Hill," in Albemarle county. He Avas an ex- 
tensive land speculator. In 1748, he went on a tour of discovery down 



LETTER II. 9 



you can inform yourself of their intentions. I sliall exam- 
ine all the creeks from the head of Monouffahela down to 
the fort, and in tlie forks of tlie river Ohio and New river, 
or as far as time will allow me hetween this and Christmas. 
You may depend upon my losing no time. I will let you 
know by all opportunities what may happen worthy your 
notice, and I shall be glad if you will keep me also fully 
advised. 

I think it would be advisable to write to Colonel Arm- 
strong the lirst opportnnity. I understand that he is one 
of the surveyors, and may have his office in Carlisle for all 
I know ; but I shall be informed soon myself. You may 
depend upon my keeping the whole a profound secret, and 
trust the searching out the land to my own care, which 
shall be done as soon as possible ; and when I have com- 
pleted the whole, I shall wait on you at your own house, 
where I shall be able to give you a more satisfactory ac- 
count of what I have transacted. 

As to Neale and Company's grant, it was laid on the fork 
of Monongahela and Youghiogheny, which, if Pennsyl- 
vania takes in this region in its charter, will include it at any 
rate. As to the Ohio Company, you are the best judge 
yourself what Avill be done in it, or where it will be laid, 

I have a mind to trade some with the Indians,^ which 
may be of advantage to me in some respects toward finding 
out the best land, as the Indians are more obliging to those 
who trade with them than others; and it would put me on 
an equal footing with other traders at Fort Pitt who might 

the Ilolston. In the month of March, 1750, in company with five 
others, he started upon a trip to explore the country west of the back 
settlements of Virginia. Before his return, he penetrated far into the 
present State of Kentucky. His party, in April, erected a small cabin 
in what is now Knox county — the first one, probably, ever built by an 
American within the limits of that State. " Walker's settlement" is 
noted on some of the old maps. He died at "Castle Hill," in 1794. 
He had been for many years a prominent Virginian. 

^The Indians who traded, at this date, with the settlers at Fort Pitt 
and vicinity, were the Senecas, Delawares, and Shawanese; also the 
Monseys (who were in reality Delawares), and a few Mohicans. All 
these dwelt upon the Ohio and its tributaries. 



10 WASHINGTON-CRAWFORD LETTERS. 

Avant to take an advantage ♦of me if I trade without li- 
censes. If it is not too much trouble for you to procure 
them for me, if you would do it, it would greatly oblige me. 

As to the particulars of what you wrote me, I can not 
satisfy you better at present than I have; but you may de- 
pend upon time and my own industry to comply with ev- 
erything else as soon as iii my power. Excuse any errors 
that I may have committed. I am, etc. 

P. S. There is nothing to be feared from the Maryland 
back line, as it does not go over the mountain.^ 



No. 3. — Craavford to Washington. 

Spring Garden,^ January 7, 1769. 
Sir : — By Valentine Crawford I received your letter dated 
Kovember 13th,^ and the inclosed twenty pounds Pennsyl- 
vania money. I wrote you by Mr. Harrison.* He told me 
he gave Mrs. Washington my letter, as you were not at 
home. At my return from Frederick,^ over the mountain, 

^ At this period, " the Maryland back line" was a subject of contro- 
versy between the provinces of Maryland and Virginia, depending 
upon the question of the location of the " first fountain of the Poto- 
mac;" as the line was defined to be a meridian, extending from that 
point to the southern boundai-y line of Pennsylvania. The province 
of Virginia claimed all the territory west of the head of the south 
branch, while Maryland insisted that her territory extended as far 
west as the head of the north branch. As' in neither case would it be 
beyond " the mountain," Crawford could, with propriety, declare there 
was " nothing to be feared from" it. 

^ Spring Garden was one of the names by which Crawford designated 
his home upon the Youghiogheny. 

* The letter here referred to has not been preserved. Crawford's re- 
ply, however, is so full as probably to indicate all its important points. 

* Lawrence Harrison. His son, William, married Sarah, one of the 
daughters of Crawford. 

5 By " Frederick " is meant Frederick county, Virginia, the former 
home of Crawford. His residence was upon Bullskin creek, in what 
was afterward Berkeley county, Virginia — now Jefferson county, West 
Virginia. 



LETTER III. 11 



the survo^'or was rniiniiig land out for such as were ready 
to pay him. Immediately I got him to run out your land. 
I have done it as if for myself, taking all the good land, 
and leaving all that is sorry, only some joining the mill- 
seat. It came out in locations as other land, but was all 
run out in one body. The surveyor will be paid for every 
three hundred acres, notwithstanding he run the whole in 
one body. He says it is the rule of the office. There are 
in each survey three hundred and thirty-two and three 
hundred and thirty-three acres ; so I had good measure. 

The land you were to have of my brother, John Stephen- 
son,i when the surveyor came Avas located. He will lose 
all that is good, without he can purchase the man's right. 
This he intends to do, if he can, but I doubt it, as people 
from Pennsylvania hold land high. 

You mentioned that the lines of the colonies would be 
extended soon, or, at least, that such a plan was on foot,^ 
and that the officers would obtain their lands agreeable to 
His Majestj^'s proclamation.^ I am at a loss where they will 
lay it off (as the land to the southward of Penn's line* is 
very sorry, except in some spots), unless it is laid oif as j'ou, 
in a letter, before Avrote me. 

I have not been down on an}' part of the Little Kanawha,^ 

^ A half-brother of Crawford. He had five half-brothers, sons of 
Richard Stephenson : John, Hugh, Richard, James, and Marcus, 'f- , 

^The lines of Virginia were greatly extended after the treaty, in 
1768, at Fort Stanwix; in the end, to the Mississippi. At least, such 
was the extent she claimed. She afterward relinquished her sover- 
eignty over all territory west of the Ohio and Big Sandy, and the Cum- 
berland mountains. 

'At the commencement of the Seven Years' War, in 1754, Governor 
Dinwiddle, of Virginia, to stimulate enlistments, issued a proclamation, 
granting two hundred thousand acres of land on the Ohio to officers 
and soldiers. This grant was afterward confirmed by the king. As an 
officer in that war, Washington was entitled to his share of land. 

* By " Penn's line " is meant the southern boundary line of Pennsyl- 
vania, west of the AUeghanies. 

5 The Little Kanawha is a river of West Virginia. It is a tributary 
of the Ohio, entering that stream on the left, at Parkersburgh, one hun- 
dred and ninety miles below Pittsburgh. 



12 WASHINGTON-CRAWFOED LETTERS. 

but have conversed with numbers that have been from the 
head to the mouth. They tell me there are no large bodies 
of good land on it. It is chiefly mountains and broken 
land, with here and there a very good piece. 

In a few days, I intend going up the Monongahela, to 
run out some land there. The draft I shall bring down 
with me to your house, about the first or middle of Febru- 
avj. I should have gone before, but I was stopped by the 
road I had to finish. I have found out a piece or two more 
of good land in Penn's lines, which you may have. I have 
taken them good for you, if you choose them. I could 
have taken more if I had thought they would have been 
lessened, as it is from a half-penny to a penny an acre. 

As soon as I return from up the river, I am to go over 
the Monongahela to look at some land two men have found 
on a stream called Ten-mile creek ;^ and, if I like the land, 
you shall have any of it you may want. I shall be better 
able to satisfy you when I see you. I am, etc. 

P. S. — By the commanding oflicer at Fort Pitt, there is a 
negro woman sent me who was taken, during the last war,^ 
from a place called Draper's Meadows,^ then the property of 
one Major Winston.* Hd is since dead. There were twenty- 
two taken in all from him, but several got away and 
reached their master again. I understand the colony paid 
for them ; if so, she now belongs to Virginia. If it is not 
too much trouble for you, I should be obliged to you to in- 
quire and find out the truth of the matter. I wish you to 
purchase her of the colony for me, provided they will wait 
a time for the money. It would be doing me a great favor. 
There are three more, I believe, I can get from the Indians 
with some trouble. The wench I have, ran away from them, 
and came to Fort Pitt. I am afraid there are some schem- 
ing already to purchase her. 

^ Ten-mile creek eippties into the Monongahela on the left, at Mills- 
boro', Washington county, Pennsylvania. 

^Pontiac's War of 1763-64. 

'Afterward Smithfield, Montgomery county, Va., the home of the 
Preston family. 

* William Winston, uncle of Patrick Henry. 



LETTEKS IV, V. • 13 



ISTo. 4. — Crawford to Washington. 

Old Town/ October 13, 1769. 

Sir : — The surveyors are to survey your land soon, and will 
want their cash, which I have not for them. You may 
send it by Mr. Harrison, sealed up in a letter to me. Half 
Joes or Pennsylvania money will suit best for them. 

I helieve no person interferes with you. I shall have the 
whole run out before the surveyors come on the spot. I 
have been unw^ell, or I would have had it done before now. 
I shall have that laud entered^ and surveyed, and shall join 
another survey to it, if I can, that you had of my brother. 
As Mr. Harrison will be up before I shall have it done, you 
can give me your sentiments on it. I believe I can make 
about seven hundred acres there, or may be more. As to 
news, I shall refer you to Mr. Harrison. I am, etc. 



1^0. 5. — Craavford to Washington. 

3Iay 5, 1770. 

Dear Sir: — Inclosed is a rough draft of your land, and 
calculated w^ith the allowance of ten per cent, in the hun- 
dred. 

I did not enter that land for you on Ten-mile creek, as 
it appears to me, from the new map done by Mr. Sute,^ 

iQld Town was situated on the north bank of the north branch of 
the Potomac river, in Maryland, fourteen miles south-east of the i^ves- 
ent site of Cumberland, about one and a half miles above the junction 
of the north and south branches. 

^The Pennsylvania Land Office was, on the third of April, 1769, 
opened for the location of lands in that province, west of the Alle- 
ghany mountains, below Kittanning. 

^Philip Sute was among the early settlers in the Bedstone (Browns- 
ville) region, in what is now Fayette county, Pennsylvania. 



14 WASHIT^GTON-CRAWFOED LETTERS. 



that the Monor.gahela will b» left out when the back line 
is run at that bend at the mouth of the creek, or, at an}'- 
rate, where the land lies. I offered to pay the office fees if 
they would return me the purchase money if the laud did 
not fall in Pennsylvauia. They would not agree to return 
me the money at any rate, but told me, if I did not think 
it in Pennsylvania, not to enter it, as such precedents would 
be attended with confusion and trouble to thenl. There- 
fore, I thought proper to postpone it till I went up and run 
a line from Fort Pitt till it intersects the line now run, 
which will determine the matter without doubt. If it 
should be in Pennsylvania, then the clerk will send me a 
warrant, as we have agreed upon. I shall have the other 
piece at the mouth of the run surveyed as soon as I go out, 
as the surveyors will be there by that time. 

There is no certainty about the quit-rents what they will 
be ; and it is supposed they will open the office upon the 
former terms; as no land from over the mountain has been 
entered since the new manner of opening of it; nor will 
any be fond of doing so, which will oblige them to open 
on the former terms. The Indian traders' land^ is to be 
laid off on the north side of the Little Kanawha, from the 
mouth to the head, and by the Laurel HilP till it falls in 
with the Pennsylvania line; and then with the latter till it 
falls to the head or as far as it goes, and then on a straight 
line on the west side until it strikes the Ohio, which will 
leave out a great part of all the land on the west side of 
the IVlonongahela to the Ohio from the proprietors' line ; 



^During hostilities with the western Indians in 1763-4, known- as 
Pontiac's War, a number of traders met with serious losses at their 
hands. At the treaty of Fort Stanwix, in the autumn of 1768, grants 
of land were made to several of these traders by the tribes there rep- 
resented. These lands were located between the Kanawha and Mo- 
nongahela rivers. Titles, however, to be valid, needed confirmation 
by the Crown. 

-The Laurel Hill is a mountainous range in the south-western part 
of Pennsylvania. It extends into West Virginia by the name of the 
Chestnut Ridge ; while the Chestnut Ridge proper, lying to the west of 
it, after entering the latter State, changes its name to Laurel Hill. The 
two ranges are not many miles apart. 



LETTER V. 15 



as, according to the opinion of such as judge the matter, 
the western bounds Avill be a crooked line agreeing with 
the meanders of the Delaware river.^ The Indian traders 
have not got their land confirmed to them yet from any 
account they have had. Captain Trent is still in England 
waiting to have it settled.^ I shall do every thing in my 
power to inform myself in regard to the lands, where they 
are to be laid otf, till I see or hear from you. I am, etc. 

P. S. — When you come up,^ you will see the who^e of 
your tract finished. You can have it all patented in one 
tract. I spoke to Mr. Tilghman* about it, and told him that 
you wanted to command some part of the river. He agreed 
that the surveyor should run it out and you pay all under 
one, and have a patent for the whole in one. Colonel Car- 
lisle has promised me to show you Mr, Sute's map, just 
completed from the best intelligence — from actual surveys, 
from reports, or the best accounts he could get. 

^ It was, at one time, claimed by the Penns and others, that the west- 
ern boundary line of Pennsj'lvania should be made to meander the 
same as the Delaware river, from which it was to be run at a distance 
of five degrees of longitude. Upon old maps, it is seen sometimes 
marked in that way. This absurd idea, however, was, in the end, 
given up. 

^ William Trent, a native of Pennsylvania, was early engaged in the 
Indian trade. He also took an active jD^rt in the Seven Years' War ; 
and, during Pontiac's War suffered the loss of a trading-house near Fort 
Pitt. He was allowed a grant of land by the Indians, fit the treaty of 
Fort Stanwix, in 1768, along with other Indian traders; these grants 
he was seeking to have confirmed. 

* Washington was then contemplating a visit to the Western coun- 
ti'y to view the land upon the Ohio and its tributaries, which, by the 
treaty of Fort Stanwix, in 1768, had been purchased of the Indians — 
to the end that he might secure good tracts in that locality for the 
Virginia officers and soldiers who had served in the French War, and 
who were entitled, according to rank, to two hundred thousand acres. 

* James Tilghman, Secretary of the Land Office, at Philadelphia. 



16 WASHINGTOX-CEAWFOED LETTERS. 



'No. 6. — Crawford to Washington. 

December 6, 1770. 

Dear Sir : — Agreeable to your desire, I have bought the 
Great Meadows^ from Mr. Harrison, for thirty pistoles, to 
be paid to Mr. Jacob Hite ; and inclosed is an order on you 
from Mr. Harrison in favor of Mr. Hite, and the bill of 
sale filled up by Mr. McLain. I also inclose a draft of the 
land, to be run as you think proper. Any alteration you 
want done, please to let me know, and I will see it done 
when Mr. McLain comes up next summer. 

I intend to go to Fort Pitt in a day or two. The snow 
that fell the time you left my house continued on the 
ground with the help of some more ever since, so there was 
no looking at the land with the caution 3'ou desired.^ I 

^The Great Meadows were four miles east of the Laurel Hill, and 
ten miles east of the present Uniontown, Fayette county, Pennsyl- 
vania, — on the National road, forty-two miles from what is now Cum- 
berland, Maryland. Here, in April, 1754, Washington built Fort 
Necessity, which was surrendered to the French in July following. 

^Washington left Mount Vernon on the 5th of October, 1770, on his 
journey to the Ohio river, reaching the home of Crawford on the 13th. 
On the next day, in his journal, which has been frequently published, 
he wrote : 

— "At Captain Crawford's all day. Went to see a coal-mine not far 
from his house, on the banks of the river [Youghiogheny]. The coal 
seemed to be of the very best kind, burning freely, and abundance of 
it." On the next day he says: "Went to view some land which Cap- 
tain Crawford had taken up for me near the Youghiogheny, distant 
about twelve miles [in what is now Fayette county, Pennsylvania; 
Perry opolis is located upon this land]. This tract, which contains 
about one thousand six hundred acres, includes some as fine land as 
ever I saw, and a great deal of rich meadow. It is well watered, and 
has a valuable mill-seat, except that the stream is rather too slight, 
and, it is said, not constant more than seven or eight months in the 
year; but on account of the fall and other conveniences, no place can 
exceed it. In going to this land, I jjassed through two other tracts, 
which Captain Crawford had taken up for my brothers Samuel and 
John. 1 intended to have visited the land which Crawford had pro- 



LETTER VTT. 17 



shall send you a full account by my brother, who is to bo 
up by Christmas, if I can have the ground clear of snow 
long enough to have it done; at any rate, I will see it next 
week. Colonel Croghan is at Fort Pitt still, and I under- 
stand is to stay the chief part of the winter.' I wish you 
a merry Christmas. I am, etc. 

P. S. — Mr. Hite has an order on you for the same amount. 
One only is to be paid. 



^0. 7. — Craavford to Washington. 

Sprincx Garden, Ajyril 15, 1771. 
Si?.: — I received yours of March 11th, and I am much 
surprised at Mr. Brooks' behavior in regard to that land. 
He never had the least claim or pretensions to the Mead- 
ows that I ever heard of. Mr. Harrison made use of the 

cured for Lund Washington this day also, but time falling short I was 
obliged to postpone it. Night came on before I got back to Craw- 
ford's, where I found Colonel [Adam] Stephen." . . . On the 16th 
he wrote: "At Captain Crawford's till the evening, when I went to Mr. 
flohn Stephenson's [Crawford's half-brother], on my way to Pittsburgh, 
and lodged." . . . 

Crawford accompanied Washington down the Ohio to the mouth of 
the Great Kanawha. After an examination of the land some distance 
vip the latter stream, they returned, reaching Crawford's home on the 
24th of November. Washington left for Mount Vernon the next day, 
the ground being covered with snow ; hence the allusion to " the snow 
that fell," in the above letter. 

* George Croghan, a native of Ireland, first settled upon the Susque- 
hanna, where, in 1746, he was engaged in the Indian trade. He after- 
ward was agent for Pennsylvania among the Indians upon the Ohio 
and its tributaries. He erected a fort at the site of the present Shir- 
leysburg, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. Early in the French 
War he was a captain; but, in 1756, he threw up his commission and 
repaired to Sir William Johnson, who appointed him a deputy Indian 
agent of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Indians. After Pontiac's War, he 
lived at his settlement upon the east side of the Alleghany river, four 
miles above Fort Pitt, where, as Sir William's deputy, he continued very 
efficient. Here, Washington visited him on the 19th of October, 1770. 



18 WASHINGTON-CRAWFORD LETTERS, 

name of " Wm. Brooks," eilpecting that Wm. Brooks, 
his son-in-law, would do him the favor to give him an as- 
signment at any time ; but, as Mr. Harrison has got a per- 
mit, there was no occasion for an assignment, or for an or- 
der of survey ; for any surveyor would have surveyed the 
land on the permit and returned it into the office, which 
would have been accepted, while any order of survey that 
he could have got would not do. Inclosed you have a 
bond from Mr. Harrison for settling the matter and mak- 
ing good the title. He says if you want it done, it shall 
be returned in your own name as soon as the survey is 
completed. He will settle all disputes in regard to it. 

There is one William Brooks here who has agreed to 
sign the bill of sale, which is sufficient ; as any man of that 
name will do as well as he, he having no claim or right 
more than any other man of that name. Mr. Harrison says 
it is all he can do at present. Any thing more that is re- 
quested he will do if required; and if not, the bargain must 
be void, and he have his papers again ; as he can sell it im- 
mediately to several people who will pay no regard to 
Brooks' claim — looking upon it as worth nothing; 

As the bearer, Moses Crawford,^ is obliged to go off im- 
mediately, I shall refrain from giving a full account of my 
proceedings here for a few days longer ; as I shall have an- 
other opportunity soon, and then will give you as full an 
account as I am able. I am, etc. 



No. 8. — Crawford to Washington, 

April 20, 1771. 
Sir: — Agreeable to your request, I went to view Colonel 
Croghan's land ; but before it could be done the line was to 
be run, which I attended and viewed the whole; but I 
could not iipd the quantity of land you wanted, nor one 
thousand acres such as you would like, or such as I would 

^ Moses Crawford was a son of Valentine Crawford. 



LETTER VITT. 19 



have, to be laid off as he wanted inc to lay it off. There 
was some good land on Raccoon creek,^ along the stream, 
but it was very hilly off from the creek. The hills are of 
the poorest sort, all piney, where the bottoms are of any 
goodness. "What land is worth anything is already taken 
by somebody, whose survey comes within the line we run. 
But the Colonel is not content with that line, as he thinks 
it does not include lands enough. I am afraid he has not a 
proper title to what he is now claiming; but I will avoid 
giving him any certain answer about the land as long as I 
can possibly do so. I have found some good tracts of land 
on the head of Chartier's creek and the head of Raccoon 
creek. It is good, level-, farming land, and good meadow, 
but not that quantity you wanted. I believe I can procure 
you a tract, in one bodj^ of three thousand acres, which is 
very good, well watered, and about fifteen or twenty miles 
from the fort. I have not told him where the land lies, 
and I am afraid to tell him till he runs the line, for I think 
if he knew of it he would run it in on purpose to have the 
selling of it to you ; as he prides himself much upon it, 
and makes it a handle to all bargains he is making with 
other people. 

I have told him I have found some land ; and if it comes 
in his land, or within his line, I will agree with him for it. 
I have run it out, and have hired some hands to work on 
it, in order to hold it till I know how to come by a right 
for it; as it is verj^ good. I think you may have between 
three and four thousand acres in a body — very good land 
for farming. 

You may depend on my being as cautious as you could 
wish in every particular concerning the soldier lands ; and 
as soon as I can finish the outlines I shall wait on you, 
which I hope will be by the first of August. I shall then 
run out lines going down the river and coming back ; as 
then the stream will- be low, and I can measure up the 
beach. You shall hear from me by all sg,fe opportunities. 
I am, etc. 

^ Raccoon creek empties into the Ohio on the left, thirty-three miles, 
by the course of the river, below Pittsburgh. 



20 WASHINGTON-CRAWFOED LETTERS. 



No. 9. — Crawford to Washington. 

Stewart's Crossing/ August 2, 1771. 
Sir : — I have done nothing with Colonel Croghan in re- 
gard to the land you want of him as yet, as I could see 
none of his land in his line now run that will answer, to be 
laid oft' as he wants it laid oft'. I have found some at about 
fifteen or sixteen miles distance from Fort Pitt, which, is 
very good farming land, and as good meadow land as any. 
The npland is level, or no more hilly than is necessary to 
make the ground dry. The tract is like Gist's,^ and full as 
good as his and as level, the draft of which I shall show 
you wdien I come down. I do not know whether Crosson 
will take this in his line or not. He is to have a tract laid 
oft' by his surveyor for you on Mingo creek, wdiich is good 
land ; but I do not know as yet wdiat quantity there will 
be, as it is not done, but is to be done, and I am to bring, 
for your perusal, the draft when I come down. It is to be 
as large as the good land will admit of any how, in a square, 

^Stewart's Crossing (frequently written in the plural) was so called 
from the circumstq,nce of William Stewart having lived near the place 
in the year 1753 and a part of 1754, when he was driven away by the 
French. It was Crawford's home, situated on what, at that date, was 
known as Braddock's road, the place on the Youghiogheny where 
Braddock crossed on his march against Fort Duquesne (afterward Fort 
Pitt), in 1755. It was in Augusta county, Virginia, as claimed by that 
province; subsequently, in the district of West Augusta; and, finally, 
in Yohogania (not Youghioglieny) county, until 1779, when Virginia 
relinquished her claim to that section. As claimed by Pennsylvania, it 
was, at that date, in Bedford (formerly apart of Cumberland) ; afterward 
in Westmoreland; and, finally, in Fayette county — ^Vhere the town of 
New Haven is now located, opposite Connellsville, forty-three miles 
from Pittsburgh. 

2 Christopher Gist. He made the first settlement within the prov- 
ince of Pennsylvania west of the Alleghany mountains. This was in 
1752. His home was on Braddock's road, not very far south from Stew- 
art's Crossing, on the left side of the Youghiogheny, at what is now 
known as Mount Braddock, Fayette county, Pennsylvania. 



LETTER IX. 21 



which is the way he will have his land run out. I shall 
close no bargain with him till I see you, which will be as 
soon as I can possibly get my business done up the river ; but 
I do not much like running any land in Tygart's Valley/ as 
the people in general are very contentious there, for want 
of the law being properly established amongst them ; but, 
if possible to be done, I will do it. 

I have run out the dift'erent tracts of land described in 
your memorandum, between the Little Kanawha and the 
Big Kanawha ; and that tract above the Captina,- or opposite 
to Pipe creek.^ It is not large. I have not made out the 
draft yet, nor shall I do so until I come down to your 
house. I saw a letter from Mr. Tilghman in regard to Col- 
onel Croghan. He says the latter has no right to any land as 
yet, nor can not tell whether he ever will have any from the 
Crown. Croghan claims it from an Indian deed and is making 
out patents to such as Avill buy of him ; but Mr. Tilghman 
says in his letter : " I hope persons will ask themselves how 
they will come by their money again, if, in a few years, his 
title should be found not good." 

I am to view his land on Mingo creek again before I 
come dowti ; and if it should not be his land, it may be you 
can make it your own hereafter. I ha'-'e nothing mate- 
rial now, further, to let you know, that I can think of. I 
am, etc. 

P. S. — Mingo creek empties into the Monongahela above 
the mouth of Youghiogheny, and the land is near the head. 
It is a small creek. 

^So called from David Tj'gart, who, with Robert Foyle, was the 
first occupant of West Virginia, west of the mountains ; his settlement 
was the site of the present town of Beverly, Randolph county; it was 
destroyed by the savages in November, 1753. 

-Captina creek empties into the Ohio on the right, twenty-one miles 
below the present city of Wheeling, West Virginia. 

'Pipe creek empties into the Ohio on the right, between six and 
seven miles above the mouth of Captina. 



22 WASHINGTON-CRAWFOED LETTERS. 



1^0. 10. — Ckaavford to James Tilghman.^ 

Stewart's Crossings, August 9, 1771. 

Sir : — I nnderstaud by Captain John Haden, the bearer 
of this, that there is an agreement entered into by a 
number of the inhabitants of Monongahela and Eedstone. 
They have entered into a bond or article of agreement to 
join and keep off all officers of the law, under a penalty 
of fifty [pounds], to be forfeited by the party refusing to 
join against all officers whatsoever. 

I understand this was set on foot by a set of people who 
have made a breach of the law by driving out men from 
their homes ; for which there was a King's warrant issued 
against them, together with a notion propagated by Colonel 
Croghan that those posts woul'd not fall into Pennsylvania. 
He told me it was the opinion of some of the best judges 
that the province line would not extend by considerable so 
far ; as it would be settled at forty-eight miles to a degree 
of longitude, which was the distance of a degree of longi- 
tude allowed at the time the charter was granted to Mr. 
Penn. He has since told these people that they had no 
right to obey any precept issued from Pennsylvania. 

He has run a line from the mouth of Raccoon [creek] 
up the Ohio to Fort Pitt, and thence up Monongahela, 
above Pigeon creek ; thence across till it strikes Raccoon 
creek ten miles up it ; and says he has one more grant of 
100,000 acres to lay oft' in a parallel with that. Mauy sur- 
veys he has cut to pieces and sold to sundry people, that 
have been returned to your office, some of which are not 
above three or four miles from Fort Pitt. He has done so 
with one of mine and many others. It is a great pity there 

^This letter has been published. See Penn. Arch. IV., pp. 424, 425. 
It is inserted in this connection (although it does not belong to the 
Washington-Crawford correspondence), as being germane to the gen- 
eral subject about which Crawford and Washington were correspond- 



LETTER XI. 23 



is uot a stop put to such proceedings, as it will be attended 
with very bad consequences. 

I am informed there is a large number of signers already 
to the paper ; when I see it, I will give yoti a more distinct 
account. I am, etc. 

P. S.— I shall be down this fall and pay off to the land 
office for the different lands I am concerned in or have un- 
dertaken to transact. 



No. 11. — Washington to Crawford. 

Mount Vernon, December 6, 1771. 

Dear Sir: — The inclosed I write to you in behalf of the 
w^hole officers and soldiers, and beg of you to be attentive 
to it, as I think our interest is deeply concerned in the 
event of your dispatch. 

I believe, from what I have lately heard, that there is no 
doubt now of the charter government^ taking place on the 
Ohio ; but upon what terms, or how the lands will be 
granted to the people, I have not been able to learn. I 
should be glad, however,, if ^^ou would endeavor to keep 
the tract you surveyed for me till such time as we can tell 
where, and how, to apply for rights ; or, if you did any- 
thing with McMahan^ on my account, I will abide by that. 

As soon as the tract at the Great Meadows is enlarged, 
I should be glad to have the surveys returned to the office, 
and to get a plat of it myself, as I am determined to take 
out a patent for it immediately, 

I can not hear of any reserve in favor of Colonel 
Croghan ; for which reason I do not care to say anything 



^By "the charter government" is here to be understood the govern- 
ment of Virginia. Washington's idea was, that its jurisdiction would 
soon be extended to the Ohio, with power to grant lands, etc. ; which, 
as yet, had not been the case. 

^Dr. James McMechen (whose name is found frequently written Mc- 
Mahan or McMahon) was an early settler upon the Ohio. 



24 WASHINGTON-CKAWFORI) LETTERS. 

more to him on the subject of % purchase until matters are 
upon a more permanent footing;, since no disadvantage can 
follow to him, after leaving him at liberty in my last letter 
to sell the tract he made me an oft'er of, to anybody he 
pleased. I should be glad, however, to hear from you how 
he goes on in his sales, and what is said and thought of his 
claim ; in short, what chance there appears to be of his 
getting it ; for I su})pose his right to the lands he claims 
must either be confirmed or rejected by this time, and 
known at Pittsburgh before now. I should be glad to 
hear from you by the first opportunity in respect to these 
several matters. In the meanwhile, I remain, with my 
best wishes to Mrs. Crawford, yourself and family, dear sir, 
your assured friend and servant. 



No. 12. — Crawford to Washington. 

Stewart's Crossing, March 15, 1772. 

Sir : — I received yours of the 6tli of December. I should 
have had your land run out at the Great Meadows, but Mr. 
McLain is not come up from his father's as yet, but is to 
be up in a few days, and I will have it done and send you 
a draft of the whole by the first opportunity. I would 
have had it done as soon as I came up, but he could not do 
it before he went to Philadelphia. As to Croghan's claim 
to the land near Fort Pitt : he claims and is selling any 
land that any person will buy of him inside or outside of 
his line, and otters his bond to make a title for it and have 
no money till then, at ten pounds sterling per hundred 
acres. He has his surveyors running out land now con- 
stantly; and he has taken and run out land for himselften 
miles clear of his line. 

I saw his order to his surveyors, and they were to run 
out thirty thousand acres of land — one thousand in a tract ; 
and if the people will not purchase of him upon those 



LETTER Xir. 25 



terms, he will let them go to the iirst that will. People do 
not know what to do. Some, in order to prevent disputes, 
enter the lands with him; and then they have six pounds 
per tract to pay his surt^eyor, which occasions much trou- 
ble. When it will end I do not know. 

There is no certainty yet of the charter government 
taking place as was proposed when you were at Fort 
Pitt, or Colonel Croghan's grant being confirmed. Some 
dispute its being ever confirmed. I hear no talk of the 
traders having any land on the Ohio. There is some talk 
of a government to be on the Ohio, at the mouth. 

I shall do my endeavors to keep your land I took up for 
you; but I am afraid I shall be hard put to it. I have, 
however, built four good cabins on it, and cleared about an 
acre at each, fit for the ploAv, which I think will hold it till 
there is some way of securing it. 

I have seen McMahon's land he had to sell, but it was 
not such as it was recommended to me ; and, besides, there 
is a dispute about part of it. A man has built a cabin on 
the best of it ; but, if it had not been so, it would not have 
suited you : it is too hilly and not rich. There will not be 
a possibility of taking up such^ quantity as you want near 
Fort Pitt, as there are such numbers of people out now 
looking for land, and one takiug another's land from him. 
As soon as a man's back is turned another is on his land. 
The man that is strong and able to make others afraid of 
him seems to have the best chance as times go now. Prob- 
ably I may fall in with such a body of land on some of the 
small creeks down the Ohio; if so, I will take it for you, 
and as soon as I can I will send you a draft and description 
of the place. I am, etc. 



26 WASHINGTON-CEAWFORD LETTERS. 



!N^o. 13. — Crawford to Y^ashington. 

May 1, 1772. 

Sir : — I have still kept your land, but with much diffi- 
culty. I turned six men off on the first of March who had 
built a house and inclosed about two or three acres, for 
which I paid them five pounds. I have built houses on 
each part — four in all, and cleared some land and hired a 
man to stay and keep possession till I return, as nothing 
will do now but possession, and hardly that. I do not find 
that I could get the quantity of land you spoke to me for, 
without I could stay all summer and be on the spot ; as 
people crowd out in such numbers the like was never seen. 
I believe they have settled as low as Wheeling^ and some 
lower — as far down as Grave creek.^ I have heard that 
the charter government is confirmed, but on what terms 
the land will be [granted] I do not know. 

Colouel Croghan is still surveying land and selling to 
anybody that will buy ; but I can hear nothing of anj^ con- 
firmation of his grant by any person but himself. When 
the surveyor comes up, Valentine Crawford will attend the 
survey of your place at the Great Meadows and have the 
draft sent to you by the first opportunity. I am, etc. 

^Crawfox'd's meaning was, "as low as Wheeling creek." This stream 
enters the Ohio pn the left, at a distance of ninety-three miles, by the 
river's course, below Pittsburgh. Its mouth is the site of the j^resent 
city of Wheeling, West Vii'ginia. 

^ Grave creek empties into the Ohio on the left, in West Virginia, 
twelve miles below Wheeling. 



LETTERS XIV, XV. 27 



No. 14. — Crawford to Washington. 

December 3, 1772. 
Sir: — I wrote you by Valentine Crawford that I was in- 
debted to Messrs. Jacob Witte & Son a sum of money, which 
I have not been able to pay, and I am afraid I shall be sued 
for it. If you can answer the sum in the inclosed order 
and charge it in m}'' wages for surveying the land of the 
officers,^ it would much oblige your most humble servant. 



No. 15.^ — Washington to Lord Dunmore.^ 

Mount Vernon, Ajwil 13, 1773. 
My Lord : — In obedience to your Lordship's request, I 
do myself the honor to inform you, that, by letters this day 
received from Dr. Cooper of King's College in New York, 
I find it will be about the first of next month before 1 shall 
set off for that place, and that it will perhaps be the mid- 
dle of June before I return. Harvest then coming on, and 
seldom ending till after the middle of July, I could almost 
wish to see it accomplished ; but if the delay in doing it is 
attended with any kind of inconvenience to your Lordship, 
I will, at all events, be ready by the first of July to accom- 
pany you tlirough any and every part of the western coun- 
try which you may think proper to visit. 

^ Fi'om this it will be seen that Crawford had been down the Ohio, 
surveying land for the officers and soldiers, during the summer. 

■''This letter is inserted in this connection although it does not be- 
long to the Washington-Crawford corresiDondence, it having an impor- 
tant bearing upon the one that follows. It has been previously pub- 
lished. See Sparks' Washington, vol. II, pp. 373, 374. 

•''John Miu-ray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, one of the repi'csentative peers 
of Scotland, wa^, at that date, Governor of Virginia. 



28 WASHINGTON-CRAWFORD LETTERS. 

I beg the favor of your Lorclaliip to inform me, therefore, 
as nearly as you can, of the precise time you will do me 
the honor of calling here, that I may get ready accord- 
ingly, and give notice of it to Mr. Crawford (if your Lord- 
ship purposes to take the route of Pittsburgh,) whom I took 
the liberty of recommending as a good woods-man, and 
well acquainted with the lands in that quarter, that he may 
be disengaged when we get to his house, which is directly 
oii that communication. I am persuaded that such a per- 
son will be found very necessary in an excursion of this 
sort, from his superior knowledge of the country, and of 
the inhabitants, who are thinly scattered over it.^ 

'No person can be better acquainted with the equipage 
and simple conveniences necessary in an undertaking of 
this sort tiian your Lordship, and, therefore, it would be 
impertinent in me to mention them ; but if your Lordship 
should find it convenient to have anything provided in this 
part of the country, and will please to honor me with your 
commands, they shall be punctually obeyed. As, also, if 
your Lordship chooses to have an Indian engaged, I will 
write to Colonel Croghan, Deputy Indian Agent, who lives 
near Pittsburgh, to have one provided. 

The design of my journey to ISTevv York is to take my 
son-in-law, Mr. Custis, to King's College. If your Lord- 
ship, therefore, has any letters or commands, either to that 
place or Philadelphia, I shall think myself honored in being 
the bearer of them, as well as benefited hy means of the 
introduction. 

I am, with the greatest respect, your Lordship's niost 
obedient and most humble servant. 

^ Washington's visit to the home of Ci'awford two years and a half 
previous, and his trip thence down the Ohio to the Great Kanawha and 
return in company with him, enabled him to speak with confidence as 
to his (Crawford's) superior knowledge of the western country and its 
inhabitants. 



LETTER XVI. 29 



No. 16.1 — Washington to Crawford. 

Mount Vernon, Sepemher 25, 1773. 

Dear Sir : — I have heard (the truth of which, if you saw 
Lord Durimore in his way to or from rittsburgh,^ you pos- 
sibly are better acquainted with than I am) that his Lord- 
ship will grant patents for lands lying below the Scioto, ^to 
the officers and soldiers who claim under the proclamation 
of October, 1763.^ If so, I think no time should be lost in 
having them surveyed, lest some new revolution should 
happen in our political system. I have", therefore, by this 
conveyance, written to Captain Bullitt,* to desire he will 
have ten thousand acres surveyed for me ; five thousand of 
which I am entitled to in my own right ; the other five 
thousand, by purchase from a captain and lieutenant. 

I have desired him to get this quantity of land in one 
tract, if to be had of the first quality ; if not, then in two, 
or even in three, agreeably to the several rights under ' 
which I hold, rather than survey bad land for me, or even 
that which is middling. I have also desired him to get it 

^ This letter has been published. See Sparks' Washington, vol. ii, 
pp. 375-378. 

^ Lord Dunmore visited Pittsburgh as he and Washington had con- 
templated ; but the latter, as will presently be seen, was unable to ac- 
company him. The governor's journey was made during tiie summer 
of this year. On his way, he tarried awhile at the home of Crawford. 

^ This report, which had reached the ears of Washington, was an 
erroneous one. 

* Thomas Bullitt, a prominent Virginian and land surveyor, de- 
scended the Ohio in 1773 to survey lands in Kentucky. He had no 
authority from Governor Dunmore to make surveys in that region; 
notwithstanding which he ran out several tracts. Other parties who 
descended the Ohio at the same time went also without any permit from 
his lordship. The latter, while at Fort Pitt, wrote Bullitt advising 
"him to return again immediately." He knew nothing whatever of 
his surveys. 



30 WASHINGTON-CRAWFOED LETTERS. 

as near the mouth of the Scioto/ that is, to the western 
bounds of the new colon}-/ as may be; but for the sake of 
better lands, I would go quite down to the Falls,^ or even 
below; meaning thereby to get richer and wider bottoms, 
as it is m}^ desire to have my lands run out upon the banks 
of the Ohio. If you should go down the river this fall, in 
order to look out your own quantity under the proclama- 
tion, I shall be much obliged to you for your assistance to 
Captain Bullitt in getting these ten thousand acres for me, 
of the most valuable land you can, and I will endeavor to 
make you ample amends for your trouble ; but I by no 
means wish or desire you to go down on my account, un- 
less you find it expedient on your own. Of this, I have 
written to Captain Bullitt, under cover to you, desiring, if 
you should be with him, that he will ask your assistance. 
As I have understood that Captain Thompson* (by what 
authority I know not) has been surveying a good deal of 
land for the Pennsylvania officers, and that Dr. Connolly* 
has a promise from our Governor of two thousand acres 
at the Falls, I have desired Captain Bullitt by no means to 
involve me in disputes with any person who has an equal 
claim to land with myself, under the proclamation of 1763. 

^ The Scioto, one of the largest of the northern tributaries of the 
Ohio, enters the latter stream at Portsmouth, three hundred and sixty- 
miles below Pittsburgh. 

^ " Wali:)ole's Grant "^a large tract of land, solicited by Thomas Wal- 
pole and others of the Crown, lying upon the Ohio above the Scioto, 
but upon the other side of the river. This "grant" was never per- 
fected; it would have included the whole of Northwestern Virginia. 

^ The rapids in the Ohio, at what is now Louisville, Kentucky. 

* William Thompson, a prominent Pennsylvanian. Some of his sur- 
veys were made on the north fork of Licking, Kentucky. 

* John Connolly, a native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, was 
bred a physician. He was a nephew of Colonel Croghan, and " a very- 
sensible, intelligent man," who previously had traveled over a good 
deal of the country watered by the Ohio and its tributaries. He soon 
after, as the agent of Dunmore, played an important part in affairs at 
Pittsburgh, in attempting to maintain the jjossession of Fort Pitt and 
its dependencies for the colony of Virginia, and to put the militia and 
other Virginia laws in force — the governor claiming the country as a 
part of that province. 



LETTEE XVI. 31 



As to the pretensions of other people, it is not very essen- 
tial; as I am told that the Governor has declared he will 
grant patents to none but the officers and soldiers who are 
comprehended within the proclamation aforementioned; 
but even of these claims, if I could get lands equally as 
good, as convenient, and as valuable in every respect, else- 
where, I should choose to steer clear. 

Old David Wilper, who was an officer in our regiment, 
and has been with Bullitt running out land for himself 
and others, tells me that they have already discovered four 
salt springs in that country ; three of which Captain Thomp- 
son has included within some surveys he has made ; and the 
other, an exceedingly valuable one, upon the River Ken- 
tucky, is in some kind of dispute. I wish I could establish 
one of my surveys there ; I would immediately turn it to 
an extensive public benefit, as well as private advantage. 
However, as four are already discovered, it is more than 
probable there are many others ; and if you could come at 
the knowledge of them by means of the Indians, or other- 
wise, I would join you in taking them up in the name or 
names of some persons who have a right under the proc- 
lamation, and whose right we can be sure of buying, as it 
seems there is no other method of having lands granted ; 
but this should be done with a good deal of circumspection 
and caution, till patents are obtained. 

I did not choose to forego the opportunity of writing to 
you by the gentlemen who are going to divide their land 
at the mouth of the great Kenhawa, though I could wish 
to have delayed it till I could hear from the Governor, to 
whom I have written, to know certainly whether he will 
grant patents for the land which Captain Bullitt is survey- 
ing, that one may proceed with safety ; as, also, whether a 
discretionary power, which I had given Mr. Wood^ to select 
my land in West Florida, under an information, even from 
his Lordship himself, that landU could not be had here, 
would be any bar to my surveying on the Ohio; especially 

^ James Wood, a prominent Virginian. By the proclamation of 
1763, three new colonies Avere established in America — Quebec (Can- 



32 WASHINGTON-CRAWFOED LETTERS. 

as I have heard since Mr. AVoed's departure that all the 
lands on that part of the Mississippi, to which he was re- 
stricted by me, are already engaged by the emigrants who 
have resorted to that country. Should I, however, receive 
any discouraging account from his Lordship on these heads, 
I shall embrace the first opportunity that offers afterwards 
to acquaint you wnth it. 

By Mr. Leet^ I informed you of the unhappy cause 
which prevented my going out this fall.^ But I hope noth- 
ing will prevent my seeing you in that country in the 
spring. The precise time, as yet, it is not in my power to 
lix ; but I should be glad if you would let me know how 
soon it may be attended with safety, ease, and comfort, 
after which I will fix upon a time to be at your house.^ 

I am, in the meanwhile, with sincere good wishes for 
you, Mrs. Crawford, and family, your friend, etc. 

ada), East Florida, and West Florida. Wood, upon proposing to visit 
West Florida, in March, 1773, was requested by Washington to have 
ten thousand acres surveyed for him in that country, if he could find 
such lands as he thought would answer his purpose; as he "had never 
yet been able to designate the lands to which" he was "entitled un- 
der his Majesty's proclamation of October, 1773." 

^ Daniel Leet, a native of New Jersey, but an early resident of that 
part of the. western country which afterward became Washington 
county, Pennsylvania. He was a surveyor, and was frequently em- 
ployed as such by Washington. He was born Nov. 6, 1748; died, June 
18, 1830, in Alleghany county, Pennsylvania. 

^ The " unhappy cause " was the death of Miss Custis, the daughter 
of Mrs. Washington by her former marriage. 

^ Washington never again visited Crawford. The Revolution was at 
hand; in which contest the latter perished miserably by torture, at the 
stake, on the 11th June, 1782. 



LETTER XVII. 33 



No. 17. — Washington to Crawford. 

Mount Vernon, September 25, 1773. 

Dear Sir: — Since writing the inclosecV I have further 
understood that the Governor, from some displeasure at 
Captain Bullitt's conduct (whether for surveying at all or 
for other persons, besides those claiming under the procla- 
mation, or whether for a speech and engagement which he 
entered into with the Indians), has ordered him in.'^ If the 
Governor's displeasure proceeded from the last-mentioned 
cause, I should be glad (in case of your going down the 
river in pursuit of your own land) if you could obtain a 
lieelise from him to survey my quantity of ten thousand 
acres, as I will endeavor to get him to authenticate it, in 
order that I may proceed to patenting of it, if the Governor 
thinks himself at liberty to grant one. 

I have written to Bullitt to this effect, and though I 
know I gave him mortal offense, by interesting myself in 
procuring the commission^ I did for you, yet I have some 
expectation of his comph'ing with my request. If he does 
comply, you must know from him what survey's he has 
made, as also what entries are lodged, in order that you 
may steer clear of them ; and I would recommend it to you 
to use dispatch, for depend upon it, if it be once known 
that the Governor will grant patents for these lands, the 
officers of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Carolina, etc., will flock 
there in shoals, and every valuable spot will be taken up 
contiguous to the river, on which the lands, unless it b.e 
where there are some peculiar properties, will alwaj's be 
most valuable. I am, etc. 

^ The previous letter (No. 16), it will be observed, has the same date. 

^The speech here referred to was made by Bullitt to the Shawanese 
upon the Scioto, at old Chillicothe, on his way down to Kentucky. 

^ Meaning Crawford's commission as surveyor for the Ohio Company 
in place of Christopher Gist, deceased, issued by the College of Wil- 
liam and Mary. 



34 WASHINGTOX-CEAWFORD LETTEES. 



No. 18. — Crawford to Washington. 

Spring Garden, November 12, 1773. 

Sir: — I received yours of July 27th, September 25th and 
26th,^ in one of which you bUirne me for not discovering those 
lands nearly opposite to the other surveys on the Kanawha. 
The two bottoms below the mouth of the Porketahio I did 
see, but the land on that stream I did not see, but sent the 
men I had hired, to search and see what sort of land it 
was, whilst I was running the other side ; but they de- 
ceived me and told me there was no land worth taking. 
They then went on the same and made some small improve- 
ment with the intention of holding it, but they have since left 
it. I have surveyed some of the land. Those two bottoms 
below the Dorkattalin, when I surveyed the rest, seemed 
to be much overflowed, but not much more than other bot- 
toms w'ere at that time; nor does any of the Kanaw^ia 
bottoms seem to have any signs of overflowing more than 
common since that time; and, from all accounts, they never 
were so within the recollection of any one acquainted with 
the country. Some large trees were in the river last spring ; 
but none by many feet as high as that. 

As to your chance in your lots of land, I think it much 
the best on the whole river, from one end of the survey to 
the other, and those gentlemen seemed a good deal cha- 
grined on viewing 3'ours, after their lots were laid oft"; as 
their fronts on the river were not over a mile and a half the 
juost of them, running back almost tive miles; while most 
of your surveys have all bottom, as also Doctor Craik's 
land.^ None in that country is so good as your land and 

^Crawford mistakes the date — both of Washington's letters (Nos. 16 
and 17) are of the date of September 25. 

^ Dr. James Craik. He was the companion in arms of Washington 
at the battles of the Great Meadows and Monongahela, and accom- 
panied him down the Ohio, in his trip of 1770. 



LETTER XVIII. 35 



his. You euch have the advantnge of cabins, I believe, on 
every five hundi-ed acres of j^our laud on the Ohio. Sev- 
eral of those persons who had improved those lands came 
to me this fall, and on seeing the patent, quit and went in 
search of land for themselves. I endeavored to lease them 
some of 3'our land on the Ohio, but never could get any 
one to offer to take any upon any terms — either of yours 
or that gentleman's land. 

The reason these people sat down upon your land was 
that Colonel Croghan told them the officers and soldiers 
could never hold one foot of the land ; and he further told 
them that I had [no] orders from the Governor to survey any 
land on the Ohio; that it was only a scheme between you 
and myself. The only chance you have to get land settled, 
is to get some of your people near where you live to settle 
upon it some day or other; or bring up some hired men, 
set them to work, and clear some land, and then you may 
rent it for something. I believe that will be the surest way 
to improve your land and with the least expense. Several 
persons are waiting for your land to relapse, w^io intend to 
fall on it immediately thereafter. Should you come in the 
spring, please to let me know in advance, and also what 
number of hands, and I will provide you with everything 
in m\' power, such as boats to carrj^ your people down. 

I wrote you relating to the upper survey on the Great 
Kanawha. I think you have not apprehended me in what 
I wanted. There is the full quantity of land of two hun- 
dred thousand acres, and six hundred over and above.^ 

In ni}^ last letter to you I wrote you that Lord Dunmore 
had promised me that in case the new^ government^ did 
not take place before he got home, he would patent these 
lands for me if I would send him the draft of the land I 
surveved on the mouth of the Little Kanawha.^ Now, as 



*The meaning of the writer at this jjoint is not clear. 
- Walpole's grant. 

'The idea here is that Lord Dunmore would patent the lands sur- 
vej'ed at the mouth of the Little Kanawha. 



36 WASHINGTON-CRAWFORD LETTERS. 

my claim as an officer can not «inclnde the whole, if you 
will join as much of your officer's claim as will take all of 
the survey, you may depend I will make any equal division 
you may propose. I told Lord Dunmore the true state of 
the matter. 

Your letters came to my hand not until the 15th, and 
then I was engaged with the gentlemen who were going 
down to divide their land. I spoke to Captain Bullitt, and 
he has promised me a district to survey, and that he will 
wait on you on his way down the country. He has made a 
survey he intends for you ; some he made for himself. He 
seems to want to court your favor much at this time. He 
has several choice tracts, which he says you shall have ; 
but as you will see him yourself, he can inform you more 
fully. 

I hope to have the pleasure of your compan}^ down the 
river this spring. I will go with you as far down as 3'ou 
please. There wWl be enough persons with us to prevent 
any Indians doing any hurt. Should you come, come soon 
as you can, and I will be ready. I am, etc. 



No. 19. — Crawi'ord to "Washington. 

[No date.'] 
Sir : — I should be glad to know how matters were- set- 
tled at Fredericksburgh, at the last meeting of the officers 
in regard to our lands under his Majesty's proclamation. 
You may depend on my taking every step in my power to 
finish the soldiers' land this fall and winter. As soon as 
any can be finished, it shall be sent to you by the hand of 
some person who shall bring it to you immediately. I 
waited on (Jolonel Mason on my return home, and have 
agreed with him to survey the Ohio land as soon as the 
land for the soldiers is done. 

^ It was written in the fall of 1773. 



LETTER XX. 37 



I am indebted 4o Mr, Ilite for some goods had last 
sprino; of him before I went down the river, and I am 
obliged to' give him an order on you for some money, 
which I hope you will pay as soon as you get it in your 
hands. Any news you may hear toward the new govern- 
ment that may concern me, I should be glad to hear as 
soon as convenient. Your lands on Chartier's are safe yet; 
but how long they may continue so, I do not know, as the peo- 
ple that were going to settle on them at the time we come 
down were driven off, but attempted to return in the spring. 

I shall settle some man on them if possible, and hope by 
that means to secure them. Everything in my power shall 
be done. They must be stronger than I and my party are 
if they take them. I have agreed to pay twenty pounds 
to Mr. Stephenson's estate for you, which I should be 
obliged to you for. I am, etc. 



No. 20. — Crawford to Washington. 

Spring Garden, December 29, 1773. 

Sir : — Some people, about ten or twelve in number, have 
gone on your Chartier's land within these few days ; and 
there is no getting them off', except b}' force of arms. They 
are encouraged by Major Ward, brother to Colonel Croghan, 
who claims the land, and says he has a grant of it from the 
Crown. He will indemnify them, if they will move in 
any house where no person is living. He also offers the 
land for sale, warranting the purchaser a lawful title. He 
further adds that Colonel Croghan says you and I have 
used his brother very ill, in pretending to buy his land and 
did not, but went and took the best of it, and would not 
agree to pay him. That was the reason offered for selling 
the land to any person who should choose to buy. 

I think such proceedings as these, if not stopped, will 
soon bring the whole country to ruin. Those men have not 
bought of him, but took your land, and say they will keep 
it. I could drive them away, but they will come back im- 



38 WASHINGTON-CRAWFORD LETTERS. 

mediately — as soon as my back i« turiitd. The man I put 
on the land, they have driven away, and built a house so 
close to his that he can not get in at the door. 

Inclosed you have a faint draft, made by guess, of the way 
his land has been claimed and run, and the way his deed 
from the Indians is : one in the fork of the two rivers, 
and one at the mouth of Sewickly^ on Youghiogheny. 
The grant he makes so much noise about is the one on the 
Ohio and Eaccoon creek, lirst run by Captain William 
Thompson. The limits of his grant, as I have found since, 
by a copy of the Avhole three from Philadelphia, are as 
follows : 

The line rnn by Mr. Campbell to the mouth of Peter's 
creek^ is over and above his grant ; much more, the line 
run by Mr. Hooper to the Little liedstone, which is nearly 
four times as much as his Indian deed calls for. What 
pretention he can have for the other land I am at a loss to 
know. Your land is two miles and better from the utmost 
limits of his land, as you will see by the way it is laid down 
on the stream called Miller's Rnn.^ 

When Thompson run the land and made out the draft 
and delivered it to him, Colonel Croghan said it was not run 
right. Then he employed Mr. Campbell and told him that 
the river must be twisted up to the mouth of Peter's creek, 
as that was the bounds of his lands. When Mr. Campbell 
had run the line as marked, and delivered the draft to him, 
Colonel Croghan said he had not run the laild right ; he 
should have allowed him ten degrees for variation of the 
compass. Then he got Mr. Hooper and rnn tliis last line, 
as you see marked. He then employed Mr. Pentecost* to 

^ Sewickly creek, a tributary of the Youghiogheny on the right, 
empties into the parent stream about half way between Pittsburgh 
and what was then the home of Crawford. n_icSi.X- 

A\ " Peters'; creek falls into the Monongahela on the left, in what is now 
AHegfeefty county, Pennsylvania. 

^Miller's Run empties into Chartier's creek on the west, two miles 
below Canonsburg, Washington county, Pennsylvania. 

* Dorsey Pentecost, an early resident of the territory which after- 
ward became Washington county, Pennsylvania. 



LETTER XX. 39 



run thirty thousand acres on the head of Chartier's creek 
and Cross creek/ This still left yon out; but since then, 
Major Ward takes you and myself, and Lmid Washington 
in, and says Colonel Croghan has a grant from the Crown 
for the hand, and has given him that part, as low as the 
mouth of Wheeling.^ He has had a surveyor laying off 
tracts of land till they have been stopped by the people. 
How he will proceed now I know not. 

I can recover the land by law of this Province, or, at 
leawSt, a great part of it ; as it is as well improved as any 
in the country, where no person lives ; but this will be 
costly and troublesome. I shall await your answer before 
I proceed; as probably you may fall on some other way; 
as some late accounts from Philadelphia say the new pro- 
prietary government has fallen through, and that the gov- 
ernment is to renuiin in the hands of Lord Dunmore ; which 
I hope will put us on a better footing than we are likely 
to be under the present state of matters. 

When Lord Dunmore was at ray house he gave me the 
promise he would intercede for a district of surveying on 
the Ohio for me ; and now he will have it in his power, if 
he pleases to give me one, and I have written to him on 
that head, I should be glad if you would help me in that ; 
as it is, or will be, in your power so to do should matters 
fall in that channel. Should I get anything of the sort, 
I should be glad to have one adjoining me, as it would be 
near me and suit me much the best. Under the present 
circumstances, what lies between me and the surveys I 
have made, will not be much ; all the land worth anything 
is already surveyed. But if you can do anything for me, 
pray do ; as it will then be in my power to be of service to 
you, and myself too, and our friends. 

You probably may get your land on Chartier's creek 
patented ; that would put an end to further trouble ; but 
this I will leave to your own judgment. I am, etc. , 

' Cross creek empties into the Ohio on the left, in West Virginia, 
seveitty-five miles by the river, below Pittsburgh. 

* The site of the present city of Wheeling, West Virginia. 



40 WASHINGTON-CRAWPORD LETTERS. 



No. 21. — Crawford to "Washington. 

Spring Garden, January 10, 1774. 

Dear Sir: — Since I wrote you, Doctor Connoll}^ called 
on me on his way from Williamsburgh, and tells me that it 
is now without doubt that the new government is fallen 
through, and that Lord Dunmore is to take charge of so 
much of this quarter as falls out of Pennsylvania.^ He 
further told me that you had applied for my land as an offi- 
cer, and could not obtain itvwithout a certificate, or my being 
present ; which puts me at a loss, in some measure, how to 
take it, especially as you have not written on that head. 
Lord Dunmore promised me most faithfully, that when I 
sent him the draft of the land on the Little Kanawha that 
he would patent it for me ; and in my letter to you I men- 
tioned it, but have not heard anything from you relating 
to it. I understand, by the Doctor, that the whole is to be 
laid out in counties; if so, I hope I may have a chance for 
a county to survey, as Lord Dunmore promised me to serve 
me that way if it should be in bis power. 

Should the colony of Virginia take place on the west of 
Pennsylvania, I should think you might get a patent for 
your land on Miller's run, and that would put an end to 
any further dispute. 

I should be glad to hear the opinion of the Governor 
about Colonel Croghan's grant, if possible; and if he is al- 
lowed it, on what footing it will be. Doctor Connolly says 
that Lord Dunmore told him Colonel Crogan's grant was 
good, which is much disputed here, as there have been so 
many attempts made by him to deceive the people. I should 
be very glad to hear in what light his grant stands amongst 

^Thef return of Connolly was the opening of Pandora's box — the be- 
ginning, in earnest, of the boundary troubles at Fort Pitt and vicinity, 
which continued to agitate the western country with more or Igss se- 
verity for the next ten years. Immediately, acting under Dunmoi'e's 
orders, he began to enforce jurisdiction over 'the disputed territory. 



LETTER XXII. 41 

the gentlemen of Virginia. As to the bounds of his grant, 
it stands as I have shown you in my letter — what he has a 
right to by his Indian deed, and what he has taken over 
and above that. 

Doctor Connolly also informs me that you and Colonel 
Basset intend coming up in the spring, in order to proceed 
down the river. If so, let me know as soon as convenient, 
and what number of hands you will take, so that I can 
provide for you accordingly. If I can make a canoe with- 
out any fault in its draw, I believe I can make one that will 
take you and Colonel Basset and all your stock of provi- 
sions ; and you shall have one for your people and their 
provisions; then you will not be incumbered. Your ves- 
sel shall be light and run well, as I have the best method 
of building them, and have lately made some of the best 
canoes on the run. There is a large companj- going down 
in the spring. I am, etc. 



ISTo. 22. — Craavford to Washington. 

Spring Garden, Jaimary 15, 1774. 
Dear Sir: — Inclosed is the account of the expenses of 
last summer's trip in surveying the soldiers' land. Two 
small items are omitted in the former accounts — four 
bags which rotted out the first trip in the wet weather, and 
the kegs which were let go to people, at ditierent times, 
coming up for provisions, and made use of going down to 
put flour and salt in. Should you have settled with the 
company for the whole, never mind them ; you may in that 
case strike them out of the account. I do not remember 
whether I mentioned Colonel Muse's account to you in my 
other letters. He drew an order to me on you for the ex- 
pense of dividing the land ; and I know he intends charg- 
ing you more, but I do not think he ought to be paid any 
additional amount, as he has expended double as much as 
there was any occasion for. 



42 WASHINGTOX-CKAWFORD LETTERS. 

I have drawn an order on yo» in favor of John Hite for 
fifty pounds, which pay when it suits you. I have written 
him that he must wait your time, as 3'ou had not got your 
affairs settled.^ I could not draw immediately on you for 
cash, as I did not know that you had received any part of 
the money, I should he glad if you can help my hrother, 
Valentine Crawford, to any money-, or anything he wants, 
without disobliging yourself. And anj'thing you want in 
the spriug that I can help you to, it shall be ready for 3'ou, 
if you will let me know by the first opportunity. I intend 
public house-keeping, and I am prepared for it now ; as I 
can live no longer without that or ruining myself — such 
numbers constantly travel the road and nobody keeping 
anything for horses but myself. Some days now, if I had 
rum, I could make three pounds. I have sent for some by 
Valentine Crawford, and can suppl}^ you with what you 
want as cheap as you can bring it here, if you carry 
it yourself. Your favor done me now, among others, shall 
be thankfully repaid by your.most humble servant. 



iSTo. 23.- — Crawford to John Penn.^ 

Westmoreland County [Pa.], April 8, 1774. 
Sir: — As some very extraordinary occurrences have 
lately happened in this county, it is necessary to write an 
account of them to you. That which I now give, is at the 

^ Reference is here made to Washington's affairs with the ofiicers 
and soldiers as to their bounty lands. The whole matter seems to have 
been largely under his guidance. 

^ This letter has been published (see Col. Rec. Pa. x, pp. 165-167). 
No other statement extant gives, perhaps, so satisfactory an account 
of the " extraordinary occurrences attending the first efforts of Dun- 
more to extend the jurisdiction of Virginia over the disputed territor^^" 
Crawford, at this date, was President of the Court in Westmoreland. 
He was the first to hold that office. 

^ John Penn was then Governor of Pennsylvania. 



LETTER XXIir. 43 



request and with the approbation of all the magistrates 
that are at present attending the court.' A few weeks ago 
Mr. Connolly went to Stanton and was sworn in as a justice 
of the peace for Augusta county, in which it is pretended 
that the country about Pittsburgh is included. He had, 
before this, brought with him, from Williamsburg, com- 
missions of the peace for several gentlemen in this part of 
the province, but none of them, I believe, have been accepted. 
A number of new militia olKcers have been lately ap- 
pointed by Lord Dunmore; several musters of the militia 
have been held, and much confusion has been occasioned 
by them. 

I am informed that the militia is composed of m^n 
without character and without foi'tune, and who Avould 
be equally averse to the regular administration of justice 
under the colony of Virginia as they are to that under the 
province of Pennsylvania. The disturbances which they 
have produced at Pittsburgh, have been continually alarming 
to the inhabitants. Mr. Connolly is constantly surrounded 
with a body of armed men. He boasts the countenance of 
the Governor of Virginia, and forcibly obstructs the execu- 
tion of legal process, whether from the court or from single 
magistrates. A deputy sherifl' has come from Augusta 
county, and I am told has writs in his hands against ^Cap- 

^ During the year 1770, Crawford was appointed one of the magis- 
trates for the county of Cumberland, within the limits of which was 
his home, as claimed by Pennsylvania. Upon the erection of Bedford 
county the next year out of a portion of Cumberland, his commission 
was renewed for that county; finally, when Westmoreland, in 1773, 
was erected into a county from Bedford, his office was continued; and, 
being the first named, he became bj^ courtesy and usage Presiding 
Judge of its Courts, which office he held at date of this letter. 

'' Arthur St. Clair. He was born in Thurso, Caithness, Scotland, in 
1734, and died at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, on the thirty-first day of 
August, 1818. He studied medicine with the celebrated John Hunter, 
in London ; but afterward entered the army, having purchased an en- 
signcy in the 60th Foot, third of May, 1757. He came in Boscawen's 
fleet to America, in 1758; and served under Amherst at the taking of 
Louisburg. He was made a lieutenant on the seventeenth of April, 
1759, and distinguished himself under Wolfe at Quebec. On the four- 



44 WASHIXGTON-CRAWFOED LETTERS. 

tain St. Clair and the sheriff, iov the arrest and confine- 
ment of Mr. Connolly.^ 

The sherilf was last week arrested at Pittsburgh for serv- 
ing a writ on one of the inhabitants there, but was, after 
some time, discharged.^ On Monday last, one of Connolly's 
people grossly insulted Mr. McKay ,'^ and was confined by 
him in order to be sent to jail ; the rest of the party hear- 
ing of it, immediately came to Mr. McKay's house and 
proceeded to the most violent outrages. Mrs. McKay was 
wounded in the arm with a cutlass ; the magistrates, and 
those wdio came to their assistance, were treated with much 
abuse, and the prisoner was rescued. 

Some days before the meeting of the court, a report was 
spread that the militia officers at the head of their several 
companies would come to Mr. Ilanna's,* use the Court ill, 
and interrupt the administration of justice. On Wednes- 
day, while the Court was adjourned, they came to the court- 
house and paraded before it ; sentinels were placed at the 

teenth day of May, 1760, he married, at Boston, Phebe Bayard. He 
resigned his commission on the sixteenth of April, 1762, and, im- 
mediately after the close of Pontiac's War, in 1764, settled in the Li- 
gonier valley, Pennsylvania, where he erected mills, and also a fine 
residence. He was appointed, in 1770, sui'veyor of Cumberland, also 
a justice of the Coui't of Quarter Sessions and of the Court of Common 
Pleas, and a member of the proprietary council. In 1771, he was a 
justice of Bedford county; also Recorder, Clerk of the Orphan's 
Court, and Prothonotary. Upon the erection of Westmoreland from 
Bedford, in 1773, he continued to hold the same offices for that county. 
He was, therefore, one of Crawford's associates upon the Bench, at the 
date of the above letter. St. Clair afterward held many offices of great 
responsibility, both civil and military, and died distinguished for his 
successes, but more so for his misfortunes and failures. 

^ Connolly had been arrested by St Clair, and confined on his own- 
ing himself the author of certain advertisements requiring the people 
to meet as militia. 

^ Pittsburgh was then, according to the Pennsylvania claim, within 
the limits of Westmoreland county ; that county including, at that 
time, the whole of the province west of the Laurel Hill. 

'aEneas McKay, one of the magistrates at that date of Westmore- 
land. He resided at Pittsburgh. 

* Hanna's-town, the county-town, at that period, of Westmoreland 
county. 



LETTER XXIII. 45 



door, and Mr. Connolly went into the honse. One of the 
magistrates was hindered, by the militia, from going into 
it till permission was iirst obtained from their commander. 
Mr. Connolly sent a message to the magistrates, informing 
them that he wanted to communicate something to them, 
and wonld wait on them for that purpose. 

They received him in a private room. He read to them 
the inclosed paper,^ together with a copy of a letter to you, 
which Lord Dunmore had transmitted to him, inclosed in 
a letter to himself, which was written in the same angry 
and undignified style. The magistrates gave the inclosed 
answer^ to what he read; and he soon afterwards departed 

' Dr. Connolly's address to the magistrates of Westmoreland county, 
Pennsylvania, was as follows : 

"Gentlemen: I am come here to be the occasion of no disturbances, 
but to prevent them. As I am countenanced by (Government, whatever 
you may say or conceive, some of the Justices of this Bench are the 
cause of this appearance, and not me. I have done this to prevent 
myself from being illegally taken to Philadelphia. My orders from 
the Government of Virginia, not being explicit, but claiming the coun- 
try about Pittsburgh, I have raised the militia to support the civil avi- 
thority of that colonj^ vested in me. 

" I am come here to free myself from a promise made to Captain 
Proctor, but have not conceived myself amenable to this court, by any 
authority from Pennsylvania, upon which account I can not apprehend 
that you have any right to remain here as justices of the peace consti- 
tuting a court under that province; but in order to prevent confusion, 
I agree that you may continue to act in that capacity, in all such mat- 
ters as may be submitted to your determination by the acquiescence 
of the people, vintil I may have instructions to the contrary from Vir- 
ginia, or until his Majesty's pleasure shall be further known on this 
subject. J. Connolly." 

'^The answer of the magistrates of Westmoreland county to Dr. Con- 
nolly's address was as follows : 

"The jurisdiction of the Court and officers of the county of AVest- 
moreland rests on the legislative authority of the province of Pennsyl- 
vania, confirmed by his Majesty in Council. That jurisdiction has 
been regularly exercised, and the Court and officers will continue to 
exercise it in the same regular manner. It is far from their intention 
to occasion or foment disturbances, and they apprehend that no such 
intentions can with propriety be inferred from any part of their con- 
duct; on the contrary, they wish, and will do all in their power, to 



46 WASHINGTON-CEAWFORD LETTERS. 

with his men. Tlieir number was about one hundred and 
eighty or two hundred. On their return to Pittsburgh, some 
of them seized Mr. Elliott, of the BuHock Pen, and threatened 
to put him in the stocks for something which they deemed 
an afiront offered to their commander. Since their return, 
a certain Edward Thompson and a young man who keeps 
store for Mr. Spear, have been arrested by them; and Mr. 
Connolly, who, in person, seized the young man, would not 
allow him time even to lock up the store. In other parts 
of tiie county, particularly those adjoining the river Mo- 
nongahela, the magistrates have been frequently insulted 
in the most indecent and violent manner, and are appre- 
hensive that, unless they are speed il}^ and vigorously sup- 
ported by the Government, it will become both fruitless 
and dangerous for them to proceed in the execution of their 
offices. They presume not to point out the measures proper 
for settling the present disturbances, but beg leave to rec- 
ommend the iixing a temporary line with the utmost expe- 
dition, as one step, which, in all probability, will contribute 
ver}^ much toward producing that eliect. 

For further particulars concerning the situation of this 
country, I refer you to Colonel Wilson, who is kind enough 
to go on the present occasion to Philadelphia. I am, etc. 



No. 24. — Crawford to Washington. 

3Iay 8, 1774. 
Sir: — -Inclosed yow have the drafts of the Round Bottom 
and your Chartier's land, finished agreeable to Mr. Lewis's 

preserve the public tranquillity. In order to contribute to this very- 
salutary purpose, tl^ey give information that every step will be taken 
on the part of the province of Pennsylvania to accommodate any dif- 
ferences that have arisen between it and the colony of Virginia, by 
fixing a temporary line between them." 



LETTER XXIV. 47 



direction.^ I should have sent them from Stanton, but Mr. 
Lewis had set out for Cheat river before I got there, and I 
wanted him to see the returns before I sent them to you. 
I was still disappointed, as before I could return back again 
Mr. Lewis started for home, and I understand he will be in 
"Williamsburgh soon. If the returns do not answer, you 
-can have them changed. If 3^ou should not choose to enter 
those names in the return now made for the Hound Bottom, 
I have sent you a blank to fill up, which you may do your- 
self. 

I suppose by this time various reports have reached you. 
I have given myself some trouble to acquaint myself with 
the truth of matters; but there are some doubts remaining 
as to certain facts; however, I will give you the best ac- 
count I can. 

The surveyors that went down the Kanawha,^ as report 

^Thomas Lewis, surveyor of Augusta county, Virginia. During the 
year 1774, Crawford surveyed and returned to his otRce 4,153 acres for 
ditf^rent persons. 
2 [From the Man/land Gazette, March 10, 1774.] 

" FI^X'ASTI,E County, Virgini.v, January 27, 1774. 

" Notice is hereby given to the gentlemen, officers, and soldiers, who 
claim land under his Majesty's proclamation of the 7th of October, 
1763, who have obtained warrants from his Excellency the right hon- 
orable the Earl of Dunmore, directed to the surveyor of Finoastle 
county, and intend to locate their land on or near the Ohio, below the 
mouth of the Great Kanawha or New river, that several assistant sur- 
veyors will attend at the mouth of the New river on Thursday, the 
14th of April next, to survey, for such only as have or may obtain his 
lordship's warrant for that purpose. 

"I would therefore request that the claimants or their agents will be 
very punctual in meeting at the time and place above mentioned, prop- 
erly provided with chain-carriers and other necessaries, to proceed on 
the business without delay. Several gentlemen acquainted with 
that part of the country are of the opinion that to prevent insults from 
strolling parties of Indians, there ought to be at least fifty men on the 
river below the Great Kanawha to attend to the business as the gentle- 
men present may judge most proper until it is done, or the season pre- 
vent them from surveying any more. Should the gentlemen concerned 
be of the same opinion, they will, doubtless, furnish that or any less 
number they may believe necessary. It is hoped the officers or their 
agents who may have land surveyed, particularly such as do not reside 



48 WASHINGTOX-CRAWFOED LETTERS. 

goes, were stopped by the Sha\^»nese Indians,^ upon which 
some of the white people attacked some Indians and killed 
several, took thirt}' horse-loads of skins near the month of 
Scioto ; on which news, and expecting an Indian war, Mr. 
Cresap'^ and some other people fell on some other Indians 
at the mouth of Pipe creek, killed three, and scalped them. 
Daniel Greathouse and some others fell on some at the 
mouth of Yellow creek ^ and killed and scalped ten, and 
took one child about two mouths old, which is now at my 
house. I have taken the child from a woman that it had 
been given to.* Our inhabitants are much alarmed, many 
hundreds havinggone over tliemountain,and thewhole coun- 
try evacuated as far as the Monongahela ; and many on this 
side of the river are gone over the mountain. In short, a 
war is every moment expected. We have a council now with 
the Indians. What will be the event I do not know.^ 

in the colonies, will be careful to send the surveying fee when the cer- 
tificates are demanded. " William Preston, 

" Survei/or of Finoastle Omtiti/." 

^ This first overt act was one of the proximate causes only which 
brought on, in a short time thereafter, a bloody conflict — a contest 
known in history as Lord Duninore's War. A remote cause was the 
general antagonism of the red and white races, now being brought 
continually nearer to each other, as the tide of emigration broke 
through the Alleghanies and rolled down in a continuous flow upon 
the valley of the Ohio. 

■■* Michael Cresap, a native of Maryland, find a resident of Old Town, 
which was, at that date, generally known as " Cresap' s," and is so 
marked on some of the old maps; — "Mr. Cresap and some other 
people" were looking out for themselves locations of land upon the 
Ohio at the time. 

^ Yellow creek, a tributary of the Ohio, flowing into that stream on 
the right, fifty-five miles by course of the river below Pittsburgh. The 
words of Crawford should have been, " opposite the mouth of Yellow 
creek." 

* This occurrence took place on the 30th of April, 1774. It was 
then that Logan, the Mingo chief, lost his relatives — mother, brother, 
and sister; not, however, by "Colonel Cresap," as, in his immortal 
speech, he pathetically charges, but at the hands of the party of 
Daniel Greathouse, as stated by Crawford. 

^ This council was held at Pittsburgh, at the advice of Mr. Croghan. 
On the side of the Indians were several chiefs of the Delawares and the 



LETTER XXIV. 49 



I am iioAv setting out for Fort Pitt at the head of one 
hniuli-ed men. Many others are to meet me there and at 
Wheeling, where we shall wait the motions of the Indians, 
and shall act accordingly.' AVe are in great want of some 
proper person to direct us, who may have command, — Mr. 
Connolly, who now commands, having incurred the dis- 
pleasure of the people. He is unable to take command for 
two reasons : one is, the contradiction between us and the 
Peunsylvanians ; and the other that he carries matters too 
much in a military way, and is not able to go through 
with it. I have some hopes that we may still have matters 
settled with the Indians upon a method properly adopted 
for that puj'pose. 

It seems that they say they have not been paid anything 
for their land — I mean the Shawanese and Delawares. The 
Six l^ations say they have no right to any of the money, 
the land not being their property. I do not mean to say 
anything against Mr. 'Connolly's conduct, only he can not 
carry things on as he could wish, as he is not well 
acquainted with the nature of the people he has to deal 
with. Fair means would do better, and he could get any- 
thing he wanted more readil}'. 

In case of a war, much dependence from this place lies 
on you, Sir, as being well acquainted with our circum- 
stances. Should matters be settled with the Indians soon, 
I suppose you will proceed on with the improvement of 
your lands ; if not, you will discharge your people, and of 

Deputy of the Six Nations (Gayasutha), with eight others of the 
Seneca tribe. These gave the Pennsylvanians the strongest assur- 
ances that they wished for nothing more than to continue in peace 
with Pennsylvania. But the wrath of Logan, the Mingo chief, 
was kindled against the Virginians, and could not be assuaged with 
words. He must "glut his vengeance upon the Long Knives." . 

'Pennsylvania Avas exceedingly solicitous for peace; but Virginia 
determined to punish the Mingoes and Shawanese. Now that Craw- 
ford's ardent love of adventure, and sympathy with his native province 
got the better of his Pennsjdvania loyalty, he accepted a captain's 
commission from Dunmore, and, at the head of one hundred men, 
proceeded down the Ohio, to watch " the motions of the Indians " — 
the Mingoes and Shavvnese. 



50 WASHINGTOX-CRAWFOED LETTERS. 

course your servants will be ^Id. In that case, I should 
be glad to take two of them., if you are willing. In a few 
days you will be better advised, and then you will be more 
able to determine on matters. I am, &c. 



No. 25. — Crawford to AVashington. 

Spring Garden, June 8, 1774. 
Dear Sir : — I received your letter by Mr. Christy ^ dated 
27th of May ; and I am sorry you seem to be in confusion 
as well as us, as that renders our case more deplorable. 
Saturday last we had six persons killed on Dunkard's 
creek,- about ten miles from the mouth of Cheat river on 
the west side of Monongahela, and there are three missing. 
On Sunday, a man who left a party is sup^josed to be 
killed, as he went otf to hunt some horses, and live guns 
were heard go off. The horse he rode away returned to 
the house where the party was. They set out in search of 
enemies ; found the man's coat, and saw a number of tracks, 
but could not find the man.^ Our whole country is in forts, 
what is left; but the major part is gone over the mountain. 
With much ado I have prevailed on about a dozen of fami- 
lies to join me in building a fort over against my house, 
which has been accomplished with much difficulty and a 
considerable expense to me. Valentine Crawford has built 
another at the same rate. 

^William Christy, then a resident of Pittsburgh; soon after, along 
with Simon Girty, one of Connolly's lieutenants. 

^ Dunkai'd creek, a tributary of the Monongahela, which enters that 
river in Greene countj^, Pennsylvania. 

* This was the work of a party headed by Logan, the Mingo. It 
was here, with a small number of Mingoes and Shawanese from 
Wakatomica, an Indian toun upon the Muskingum, near the present 
Dresden, Muskingum county, Ohio, that the irate savage commenced 
his work of death. 



LETTER XXV. 51 



It was with great difficulty any could be prevailed upon 
to sta}', such w<as the panic that seized the people. If some- 
thing is not done, I am much afraid the whole country 
must fall into the hands of the enemy. The Delawares seem 
to be on our side as yet ; but on them there is not nmch 
dependence.^ I believe an Indian war is unavoidable. I 
have been on a scouting party as low as Grave creek since 
Mr. Johnston went down to Williamsburg, but could see 
no signs of any parties. However, as soon as I returned, a 
party crossed the river that did that mischief. Fort Pitt 
is blockaded,^ and the inhabitants of the town are about 
picketing it in. They have about one hundred men tit for 
arms in town and fort, which I do not think sufficient to 
protect those places. 

I shall take the opportunity of the first scouting party 
down the river to comply with your request in regard to 
the Round Bottom, and send you a plat and another to Mr. 
Lewis. Then I hope no door will be left open for disap- 
pointment. As to the variation of the compass, it has been 
taken by Mr. Leet and Mr. McLain from Mr. Dixon and 
Maso n's c alculationsj^ and they tind it to be 4° 10' westerly. 
Their work, I believe, may be depended upon, as they are 
both able surveyors. 

I am at a loss w^hat to advise you or Valentine Crawford 

^The Delawares proved steadfast in their professions of peace both to 
the Pennsylvanians and Virginians. They were not drawn into the 
war with the Sliawanese and Mingoes. Their principal village was 
upon what is now known as the Tuscarawas river, in the eastern part 
of the State of Ohio, while the Shawanese dwelt upon the Scioto. 

^ This being "blockaded " was wholly imaginary. The Shawanese 
and Mingoes recognized Pittsburgh as being in Pennsylvania, and they 
were not making war on the people of that province ; besides, the 
neutral Delawares stood in the way of war parties going so far up the 
Ohio. 

^ In August, 1763, Chai'les Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, of London, 
England, were selected by Lord Baltimore and the Penns to comjilete 
the boundary line between the provinces of Maryland and Pennsylva- 
nia. They were both eminent surveyors. The line they run has received 
their names — Mason and Dixon's line; figuratively, the dividing line 
between the Northern and Southern States of the Union. 



52 WASHINGTON-CRAWFORD LETTERS. 

to do in regard to your people* At times I am afraid they 
will be very troublesome. I am afraid, should that be the 
case, little would be done for" your advantage. In your let- 
ter to Valentine Crawford, you wrote about a mistake in 
laying a new county. I apprehended by Lord Dunmore, 
there was a new count}- intended on the west of the moun- 
tain. I am, etc. 

P. S. — We are in great want of guns and ammunition. 



No. 2G. — Crawford to Washington. 

Stewart's Crossing, September 20, 1774. 

Sir : — It has not been in my power, since your letter 
came to my hand requesting me to run the land over again 
at the Eound Bottom, to do so. I am now going to start 
upon our new expedition, and shall take my instruments 
with me and comply with your request in each particular 
as far as in my power.^ 

I have, I believe, as much land lying on the Little Ka- 
nawha as will make up the quantity you want, that I in- 
tended to lay your grants on ; but if you want it, you can 
have it, and I will try to get other land for that purpose.^ 
It lies about liftmen or twenty miles up that river, on the 
lower side, and is all ready run out in tracts of about three 
thousand and some odd acres ; others about twenty-five hun- 
dred acres ; alb well marked and bounded. As soon as I re- 
turn I will send you the draft made out; but I have not 

^This time Crawford, who had been commissioned a major by Dun- 
more, was at the head of five hundred men belonging to the regiment 
of Colonel Adam Stephen. It was one of the divisions of Lord Dun- 
more's Virginia army, and was moving down the Ohio to attack tlieSha- 
wanese upon the Scioto, if they did not comply with his Lordship's terms. 

^The meaning here, though vague, seems to be that Crawford had 
surveyed on the Little Kanawha, for him.self, as. much land as Wash- 
ington wanted to lay some warrants on, which the latter could have. 



LETTER XXVI. 53 



time to have it clone now. I do not hear anything of Cresap's 
claim now, as no person lives upon it or any of your land 
since the Indians broke out. I spoke to Lord Dnnmore in 
regard to it, and in what manner your property is claimed 
and how these people took possession of the land. He says 
it can make no odds, as you have the first claim, and a pat- 
ent besides ; so that I believe it is out of the power of any 
person to prejudice him against you. 

I this day am to set out with the first division for the 
mouth of flockhocking,^ and there to erect a post on your 
Bottom, where the whole of the troops are to rendezvous.^ 
From there they are to proceed to the Shawanese towns, if 
the Indians do not comply with his Lordship's terms ; Avhich 
are, to give six hostages for their good behavior. This, I 
believe, they will do. Lord Dnnmore has had a conference 
with them; but I do not know- what is done as yet ; but 
they will meet him at , where I believe we shall set- 
tle all matters. 

Your other matters here, Mr. Young will inform you 
how they are settled. Valentine Crawford says some per- 
son has been endeavoring to prejudice you against him 
about your business in his care. As far as I know, or be- 
lieve, he has done all that he could do for you, and has 
been at much risk and expense ; but you will be better able 
to judge when you see his return. 

Lord Dunmore has orders from home, by the last mail, 
to take charge of all the 'New Purchase, and to execute the 
laws of Virginia, until his Majesty's pleasure is further 
known.^ I am, etc. 

^ The Hockhocking enters the Ohio river on the right, in the present 
State of Ohio, two hundred and three miles by the course of the 
latter streiim below Pittsburgh. 

^Crawford with one division and Lord Dunmore with another ren- 
dezvoused opposite the movith of theHockhocking upon Washington's 
land. The army then crossed the river to the Indian side, and erected 
a stockade, which was called Fort Gower. 

^ The New Purchase here spoken of was the territory purchased of 
the Indians at the treaty of Fort Stanwix, in 1768. What Lord Dun- 
more was to take charge of included all outside the i^urchase made by 
the proprietaries of Pennsylvania. The "new government" upon the 



54 WASHINGTOX-CKAWFORD LETTERS. 



No. 27. — Crawford to Washington. 

Stewart's Crossing, JS'Ovember 14,1174:. 

Sir : — I yesterday returned from our late expedition 
against the Shawanese, and I think we may with propriety 
say we have had great success ; as we have made them sen- 
sible of their villainy and weakness, and, I hope, made 
peace with them on such a footing as will be lasting, if we 
make them adhere to the terms of the agreement, which are 
as follows : 

First, they have to give up all the prisoners taken ever by 
them in w^ar with white people ; also negroes and all the horses 
stolen or taken by them since the last war. And further, no 
Indian for the future is to' hunt on the east side of the Ohio, 
nor any white man on the west side ; as that seems to have 
been the cause of some of the disturbance between our peo- 
ple and them. As a guarantee that they will perform their 
part of the agreement, they have given up four chief men, 
to be kept as hostages, who are to be relieved yearly, or as 
they may choose.^ The Shawanese have complied with the 

Ohio proved a myth ; although contrary intelligence, such as the fol- 
lowing, had been frequently published : 

"New York, JuI>/ 17, 1773. 

" When the last advices came away from England, the establishment 
of the new province on the Ohio was on the eve of taking place; it is 
to be called Vandalia, and the only thing then remaining to be done 
was the proprietors giving security to the government for the payment 
of the civil establishment, estimated at about three thousand pounds." 
— Binds (Va.) Gaz., Aug. 5, 1773. 

" We are informed that Lord Dartmouth has nominated George 
Mercer, Esq., to be Governor of the new colony on the Ohio, which 
should be called Pittsylvania." — Dunlaps {Pa.) Packet, April 18, 177-1, 
under the head of London news of January 25, 1774. 

^ Nowhere else, it is believed, are the terms of the agreement be- 
tween Lord Dunmore and the Shawanese to be found — at least so full 
as the above. This compact was entei-ed into at what was then called 
Camp Charlotte, in what is now Pickaway county, Ohio, whither Lord 
Dunmore had marched his armj^ from Fort Gower. The Shawanese 
villages were in the immediate vicinity. 



LETTER XXVII. 55 



terms, but the Mingoes did not like the conditions, and had 
a mind to deceive us;' bntLord Dunmore discovered their 
intentions, whicli were to slip ott' wliile we were settling 
matters with the Shawanese. The Mingoes intended to 
go to the Lakes and take their prisoners with them and 
their horses which they had stolen.^ 

Lord Dunmore ordered myself with two hundred and 
forty men to set out in the night. We were to march to a 
town about forty miles distant from our camp, up the 
Scioto, where we understood the whole of the Mingoes 
were to rendezvous upon the following day, in order to pur- 
sue their journey. This intelligence came b}^ John Mon- 
tour,^ son of Captain Montonr, whom you formerly knew. 

Because of the number of Indians in our camp we 
marched oijt of it under pretense of going to Hockhock- 
ing* for more provisions. Few knew of our setting ofi 
anyhow, and none knew where we were going to until the 
next day. Our march was performed with as much speed 
as possible. We arrived at a town called the Salt-Lick 
Town^ the ensuing night, and at da3^break we got around 
it with one-half our force, «iind the remainder were sent to 

^Whether Logan, their chief, was satisfied or not, he acquiesced in 
the conditions imposed by Lord Dunmore. This is evident from his 
celebrated speech, which gives in substance what the proud but 
disconsolate Mingo desired should be transmitted to Dunmore. 

^By the jshrase "to the Lakes," is meant Lake Erie; that is, to the 
Cuyahoga river, which empties into that lake at what is now the city 
of Cleveland, Ohio. 

^ John Montour, son of Andrew Montour, a half-blood Indian, was a 
man of information and education, but a great savage. His father, 
whose Indian name was Sattelihu, was the oldest son of Madame Mon- 
toui', a French-Canadian woman, and Roland Montour, a Seneca brave. 
Andrew, who was known to Washington, was a captain of a company 
of Indians in the English service in the Old French War, and rose to 
be a major. 

*This refers to Fort Gower, at the mouth of the ITockhocking, where 
ji supply of provisions had been left under guard. 

^ This village was sometimes called Seekonk, or Seekunk, a corrup- 
tion of kseek-he-oong, " a place of salt." It was within the limits of 
what is now Franklin county, Ohio. 



56 WASHINGTOX-CRAWFORD LETTERS. 

a small village half a mile dis^nt. Unfortunately one of 
our men Avas discovered by an Indian who lay out from the 
town some distance by a log which the man was creeping 
up to. This obliged the man to kill the Indian. This hap- 
pened before daylight, which did us much damage, as the 
chief part of the Indians made their escape in the dark ; 
but we got fourteen prisoners, and killed six of the enemy, 
wounding several more. We got all their baggage and 
horses, ten of their guns, and 200 [two] white prisoners. 
The plunder sold for four hundred ponnds sterling, besides 
what was returned to a Mohawk Indian that was there. 
The whole of the Mingoes were ready to start, and were to 
have set out the morning we attacked them.^ 

Lord Dnnmore has eleven prisoners, and has returned the 
rest to the nation. The residue are to be retjirned upon 
compliance with his Lordship's demand. For other partic- 
ulars, I refer you to Major Connolly's letter. 

I have run your land at the Round Bottom again and 
will send you a new draft of it by Valentine Crjlwford, who 
is to be at your house in a few days, at or before Christma's. 
I would send it now, but the bearer can not wait as he is 
on his journey. I have drafts of land on the Little Ka- 
nawha. I shall send them to you' and leave you at' your 
own choice to do as you like. 

One favor I would ask of j^ou, if it suits. When those 
negroes of Mercer's are sold (and they are to be sold on a 
credit of twelve months), I would be glad to purchase a boy 
and girl about fourteen or fifteen years old each, or older, 
if such are sold; though I would not have you put your- 
self to any trouble more for me than suits you.^ 

^ The destruction of the Salt-Lick Town, by Crawford, was the only 
actual fighting done by that jaart of the army which was under the 
command of Dunmore in person. The other division, headed by Col- 
onel Andrew Lewis, had descended the Great Kanawha to the Ohio, 
where the Virginians fought, on the tenth of October, the sanguinary 
battle of Point Pleasant, opposed principally by the Shawanese and 
Mingoes, and were victorious. This fact hastened, on the part of the 
Indians, their negotiations with Dunmore. 

■^Crawford, like, Washington, was a slave-owner. At his death, in 
1782, he was possessed of several slaves. In that part of the trans-Alle- 



LETTER XXVIir. 57 



I spoke to Lord Duiimore about your land at Chartier's 
and the Honud Bottom; and it happened that Mr. Cresap 
was present when we spoke of it. Cresap was urging his 
claim and I was walking by. He wanted it run for him 
according to a warrant he had purchased. I then told his 
Lordship the nature of your claim before 'Cresap's face ; 
upon which he said nothing more at that time, but wanted 
me to survey it for him also, and return it. I told him I 
could not at any rate do such a thing, as I had surveyed it 
for you. 

We have built you a house on your land opposite the 
mouth of Hockhocking and cleared about eight acres, 
cutting off all the small timber. My brother Valentine 
Crawford says if you go on improving your land next sum- 
mer, he would still do it for you as usual. He has had 
the misfortune to lose his son [Moses. He died with the 
bilious fever. I am, etc. 



N'o. 28. — Crawford to Washington. 

February 7, 1775. 

Sir : — Your letter by Mr. Cleveland was safely delivered 
to me ; but I did not get the letter you mentioned by Mr. 
Willis till yesterday. I was out surveying when Mr. Cleve- 
land came over the mountain, and he set otf for home as 
soon as I came home, and matters were settled. I have a 
memorandum of what is wanting for your people down the 
river, and I shall have it ready against the time they come 
over the mountain. 

I would have sent down your plats by Mr. Cleveland, but 
he could not wait till they could be finished. However, 
Valentine Crawford is coming to Williamsburg, and then 
you shall have them sent to 3'ou. He will be down in a 

ghany country where Crtivvford lived, which was finally confirmed to 
Pennsylvania, no slaves were enumerated after the year 1800. 



58 WASHINGTON-CRAWFORD LETTERS. 

few days, which will, I hope,^suit j'ou as well, as he is 
coming, and will call at Mount Yernon on his way down. 

I am at a loss how to return you thankwS for your gener- 
ous present. All that I can do at any time shall alwaj-s be 
done. If I can go down the river when jon come, I will. 
And if you will but let me know what you may want got 
ready, it shall be done. I have a neat canoe that will suit 
to run down with ; or you may go by land, as there is a 
road cut to Ilockhocking. I shall write you more fully by 
Valentine Crawford, as Mr. Cleveland is in great haste to 
go to you, as he wants to be up again as soon as possible. 
I wish you all happiness. I am, etc. 



No. 29. — Crawford to Washington. 

Stewart's Crossings, llarch 6, 1775. 

Dear Sir:= — Yours by Dr. Connolly's man, dated Febru- 
ary 24th, is received. I am sorry for your inconveniency in 
regard to your carrying on your improvements on your land, 
as you seem to have bad luck. Any service I can render 
you shall be done with cheerfulness. Mr. Cleveland 
told me he bought enough of provisions for him and the 
hands employed as were wanting. Axes, hoes, and such 
tools, I shall see provided for 3'ou ; and as I think Yalen- 
tine Crawford will be with you before my son,^ you and he 
can agree on what will be wanting. 

You seem to be at a loss for some one to help out with 
your servants. I could not help you to a better hand than 
my son, who has come down for that purpose to assist your 
people out. He is up to traveling, and may be of some ser- 
vice in hastening their march out. I have instructed him to 
be steady, and to attend to any orders you shall think 
proper to give him, until he arrives here : then I shall see 

^ John Crawford, an only son. 



LETTER XXX. 59 



them set out from here myself, and see that they are fitted 
out with what they may want as far as in ni}'^ power.^ . . . 
Yowv place is very near the center of the country now, but 
when the country comes to bo more settled, then your Char- 
tier's land will be near the center of the settlement ; but 
that will be a matter to be settled when the line is deter- 
mined between the two provinces; till then, I do not think 
it will be worth wiiile to do anything abont it. 

Inclosed yon have two plats which you must lix warrants 
to yourself and the dates also of the warrants. The land 
on the river which I mentioned to you, two men are dis- 
puting with me about. They are living on the land, and in- 
tend to give me some trouble about it. In your letter you 
seem unwilling to enter into any dispute. If I can have 
the matter settled so as to suit you, I wdll ; and if not, I 
will lay it on land that will suit a'ou ; as I know of some 
that has no person living on it, or that has but mere tri- 
fling improvements, that can be easily settled. The land 
in the two plats is very good. It is on the Little Kanawha. 
It is as good as you could wish. Your other plat shall be 
sent to you by the first opportunity. I could not get it 
run out now. I am, etc. 



No. 30.^ — Crawford to Washington. 

WiLLiAMSBURGH, September 20, 1776. 
Sir: — I should have been glad to have the honor of be- 
ing with you at oS^ew York, but I am doubtful we shall be 
involved in an Indian war to the westward, as the Shaw- 
auese and Delawares seem in doubt ; and from the last ac- 

^ A few words in the manuscript are, at this point, of uncertain mean- 
ing, and have been omitted. Thej' have reference, seemingly, to the 
location of a county-town. 

^This letter has been previously published. See Amer. Arch., Fifth 
Series, Vol. II., p. 404. It diflfers somewhat from the original. 



60 WASHINGTON-CRAWFOED LETTERS. 

counts from Fort Pitt had not ^let our people (Doctor Wal- 
ker and the Commissioners) who were sent to treat with 
them from this Government.^ I should have come to New 
York with those regiments ordered there, hut the regiment 
I helong to is ordered to this place.'^ If a war with the 
w^esterly Indians happen, I am to go there. I, this spring, 
before I came from over the mountain, called at Simpson's^ 

^ At an early i^eviod of the Revolution, Congress perceived the im- 
portance of securing the friendship, or, at least, the neutralitj', of the 
Western Indians. Commissioners were, therefore, appointed to hold 
a treaty with them at Fort Pitt, consisting of Dr. Thomas Walker (a 
biographical sketch of whom has previously been given), John Harvey, 
John Montgomery, and Jasper Yeates. They met at Pittsburgh, in 
July, 1776, but were unable to get together a sufficient number of the 
representatives of difierent tribes to hold a treaty until the following 
October. There then assembled of the Six Nations, Delawares (in- 
cluding Monseys), Mohicans, and Shawanese, six hundred and forty- 
four. British influence at Detroit kept aloof the Ottawas, Wyandots, 
Chippewas, and Mingoes. The last mentioned had already commenced 
depredations from their principal village, Pluggy's-town, at or near what 
is now Delaware, Delaware county, Ohio. The Indians who assembled 
at the treaty gave the strongest assurance that they would remain 
neutral in the conflict between the Colonies and the mother country; 
but this neutrality, in the end, when British influence proved too pow- 
erful to be resisted, was broken up, and the confederate tribes became 
the active allies of England. 

^The regiment commanded by Crawford, at this date, was the 
Seventh Virginia, Colonel William Dangerfield's. The latter having 
resigned his commission, Crawford was promoted from lieutenant- 
colonel of the Fifth Virginia, to fill the vacancy. The regiments or- 
dered to New York were the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Virginia; Craw- 
ford remaining at Williamsburgh with the Seventh. He arrived there 
from Gloucester on the nineteenth of September. 

*The place here mentioned as " Simpson's," is now Perryopolis, Fay- 
ette county, Pennsylvania, about three-quarters of a mile from the 
Youghiogheny river, opposite Layton's station, on the Pittsburgh and 
Connellsville railroad. The ground upon which this town stands was 
the tract of sixteen hundred acres secured to Washington by Crawford, 
and mentioned in the journal of the former as having been visited by 
him in 1770. It was afterward purchased of Wa,shington by Louis 
Seares, who sold the tract to Thomas Hursey. The latter, in connec- 
tion with Thomas E. Burns, laid out Perryojiolis upon the land ; the 
first lot being sold in the spring of 1814. The mill here, which Craw- 
ford saw "go for the first time of its running," in the spring of 177(), 



LETTER XXX. 61. 



to see your mill go for the first time of its running ; and 
can assure you I think it the best mill I ever saw anywhere, 
although I think one of a less value would have done as 
well. 

If you remember, you saw some rocks at the mill-seat. 
These are as fine mill-stone grit as any in America. The 
mill-wright told me the stones he got for your mill there 
were equal to English burr. Your land on Chartier's creek 
is well cultivated, ready to your hand; the men on it think- 
ing you have no patent for it, or if you have that you will 
lease the land on reasonable terms. 

At our last Convention,^ I mentioned the state of lands 
and the state of the claimants in general; and, amongst 
other circumstances, mentioned the expense you had been 
at in having [made] the first improvements on that land, 
and then laying a warrant on them, and, notwithstaiuling, 
those persons would take it at any ratej upon which an Or- 
dinance passed that all equitable claims should take place. 

Some, I understand, have since been trying to sell their 
"rights of your land; but I have had aiv advertisement 
printed and sent up, forewarning any person to purchase 
those lands setting forth your title. 

I have laid the balance of your warrant on some land on 
the river, that I think will suit; but I have not got it run 
out to mind, as there is some dispute, and I believe I shall 
buy them out if I can reasonably. Excuse the length of 
this letter. I shall only add that I wish you to enjoy life, 
health, and overcome all enemies ; and I should be happy 
to see you once more enjoy yourself in pleasure at Mount 
Yernon. I am, etc. 

was thoroughly repaired in the summer of 1859, by George Anderson. 
The tradition that Washington superintended, in person, the laying of 
the stone of its cellar, is, of course, without foundation in fact. 

i"At our last convention;" that is, "At our last Virginia conven- 
tion," etc. 



62 WASHINGTON-CKAWFOED LETTERS. 



No. 31. — Craavford to Washington. 

Eredericktown, Maryland, February 12, 1777. 

Sir: — I am sorry to break in upon your hours that ought 
to rest 3"0u from the many fatigues you have to undergo in 
that important task you have undertaken in defense of our 
liberties; but necessity obliges me under my present diifi- 
culties. I should have been with you. Sir, before now, but 
for the following reasons : 

There is great probability of an Indian war, for many 
evident reasons given by the Indians through the course of 
last summer. They have killed many of our people on the 
frontiers ; and since the last treaty at Fort Pitt one thing 
of consequence has happened: the people of Kentuck}' pe- 
titioned the Assembly of Virginia for four hundred and 
fifty pounds of powder to be sent them, which was put into 
the charge of some men to be taken there. On the way, 
the men went ashore, below the mouth of Scioto, and were 
fired on, and five out of seven killed. Two made their es- 
cape to the mouth of Kanawha. All the ammunition fell 
into their hands.'^ Many reasons we have to expect a war 
this spring. The chief of the lower settlements upon the 
Ohio, has moved off; and should both the regiments ^ now 
be moved away it will greatly distress the people, as the 

^ At a general meeting at Harrodsburg, two agents -were chosen to 
negotiate with the Virginia Assembly, for the efficient protection and 
general good of the new settlements of Kentucky. This was on the 
6th June, 1776. Five hundred pounds of powder were procured fi-om 
the Council of that State and taken from Pittsburgh down the Ohio 
and secreted near Limestone, now Maysville. Late in December, a 
party under Colonel John Todd was sent for the powder, but when 
near the Blue Licks was attacked and defeated by Indians. Only one 
of the settler.s was killed, and the powder was afterward brought safely 
to Harrodsburg. 

- One was the 13th Virginia (usually known, at the time, as the West 
Augusta regiment), commanded by Crawford ; the other was Wood's 
regiment. 



LETTER XXXI. 63 



last raised by myself was expected to be a guard for them 
if there Avas an Indian war. By the Governor of Virginia, 
I was appointed to command that regiment, at the request 
of the people. 

The conditions were that the soldiers were enlisted dur- 
ing the war; and if an Indian war should come on this 
spring, they were to be continued there, as their interest 
was on the spot; but if there should be no Indian war in 
that quarter, then they were to go wherever called. On 
these conditions many cheerfully enlisted. The regiment, 
I believe, b}^ this time, is nearly made up, as iive hundred 
and odd were made np before I came away, and the otJicers 
were recruiting very fast ; but should they be ordered away 
before they get blankets and other necessaries, I do not see 
how they are to be moved ; besides, the inhabitants will be 
in great fear under the present circumstances. Many men 
have already been taken from that region, so that, if that 
regiment should march away, it will leave few or none 
to defend the country. There are no arms, as the chief 
part of the lirst men ^ were armed there, which has left the 
place ver}^ bare ; but let me be ordered any where and I 
will go if possible. 

I suppose by this time you may have heard of all my 
misfortunes. The loss of Hugh Stephenson^ and Valen- 
tine Crawford, who died the 7th of last month at BuUskin' 
without any will, is very hard on me, as the affairs of the lat- 
ter and mine are so blended together that no man can settle 
them but myself; and should I be cut off before they are 
settled it would ruin his children and mine. If I can have 
some little time to administer and settle the estate, I can 
then appoint a man to act for me, and then I am read}^ to 
obey your commands. 

^Crawford has here reference to the men raised by him in the fall of 
1775, in the vicinity of his home, which were mustered into the service. 

^ Hugh Stephenson — one of Crawford's half-brothers — died the pre- 
vious October. 

' In what is now Fayette county, Pennsylvania. It was so called 
from the creek upon which Crawford had lived in Frederick countj% 
Virginia — now Jefferson county, West Virginia. 



64 WASHINGTON-CEAWFOED LETTERS. 

B}' the death of Valentine Ci'awford, the whole manage- 
ment of Colonel Hngh Stephenson's estate falls on me ; as 
lie was the only one that administered on his estate. It 
now lies on me; and nothing is done yet in either estate, 
and both going to waste. I am now going to the Congress 
to see how my regiment is to be armed, and to get neces- 
saries. I expect to return immediately over the mountain. 
Should 3"ou have any orders there, you may write by next 
express who is to see me. Anything I can do you ma}'' com- 
mand me. Excuse haste, as the express is now waiting. 
That you may ever be fortunate is the daily wish and 
prayer of your most humble and obedient servant. 



No. 32. — Crawford to the President of Congress. 

Fort Pitt, 22d A-pril, 1777. 
Honorable Sir : — I have received orders to join his Ex- 
cellency General Washington in the Jerseys with the bat- 
talion now under my command, which orders I would 
willingly have obeyed, had not a council of war, held at 
this place (proceedings of which were transmitted to Con- 
gress by express), resolved that I should remain here till 
further orders. I am sorry to find the accounts therein 
contained are likely to prove but too true, and from the late 
depredations and murders which were committed by the 
Indians at different places in this neighborhood it ap- 
pears to me as if a general irruption was intended. On 
the 6th and 7th instant, they killed and scalped one man 
at Raccoon creek, about twenty-five miles from this place; 
at Machmore's plantation, about forty -five miles down the 
Ohio, they killed and scalped one man and burnt a woman 
and her four children ; at Wheeling, they killed and scalped 
one man, the body of whom was much mangled with toma- 
hawks and other instruments suitable for their barbarity ; 
at Dunkard's d'reek, one of the west branches of the Mo- 



LETTER XXXII. 65 



nongahela river, they killed and scalped one man and a 
woman, and took three children ; and at each of the above 
places they burned houses, killed cattle, hogs, etc.^ 

I have taken all i)0ssible means for the protection of this 
country as the nature of my circumstances would afford. 
I am at a great loss for arms; two-thirds of the battalion ^ 
have none. Had I been at this post when the accounts of 
the above cruelties came here, I would have transmitted 
them immediately to you ; but being busily employed in 
putting the battalion in proper stations for the frontiers, 
this, together with the bad state of mj^ health, prevented 
my getting here sooner than the 18th instant; and find- 
ing that no authentic accounts had been transmitted to 
Congress, think it my duty to inform you of the above 
facts, and that I onl}- await further directions ; as I have 
received no marching orders dated since the council held 
at this place resolved that 1 should wait till further orders. 
I am, etc.^ 

^ " In consequence of the before-mentioned intelligence and depreda- 
tions [of the savages], a council of war was held at this place [Pitts- 
burgh] this day [24th March, 1777], in which it was determined that it 
would be most advisable for Col. Crawford's battalion [13th Virginia 
— "West Augusta" — regiment] and two companies of Col. Wood's bat- 
talion, at Fort Pitt and Wheeling, not to march till furthei- orders ; 
and that one hundred men should be immediately sent to Kittanning, 
and twenty-five men to attack [occupy] the following places : Logs- 
town, Holliday's Cove, and Cox's." — Pa. Packet, 8th. Apr., 1777. 

^The 13th Virginia regiment. 

^ This and the following letter, although not directed to Washington, 
are published in this connection as valuable links in the chain of 
events transpiring in the West at their respective dates. 



66 WASHINGTON-CRAWFORD LETTERS. 



Ko. 33. — Crawford to Hand.^ 

January 4, 1778. 

Dear General : — Yours, by Captain Harrison, came safe 
to hand, and I am soriy I could not wait on you sooner ; 
but I have got the itch, and I am now curing for it. I shall 
be down toward the last of the week. 

Any plan you may judge most expedient to carry into ex- 
ecution, I shall do everything in my power to assist you in.^ 
The badness of the road and weather I believe will pre- 
vent the ladies from visiting Fort Pitt at this time. I shall, 
if I can, bring down the hounds with me. 
I am, etc. 

^ Brigadier-General Edward Hand was, at this date, in command of 
the Western Department, lieadquarters at Fort Pitt. 

2 This was in reply to a letter written by Hand, on the 28th of the 
previous month, suggesting an expedition against Cuyahoga, which 
finally resulted in the inglorious " Squaw Campaign." Hand marched 
in February, 1778, from Fort Pitt; terminating his mortifying exploit 
at the Salt Licks, in what is now Mahoning county, Ohio, with the 
killing and capturing of a few squaws. It was the first "campaign" 
into the Indian country from Southwestern Pennsylvania during the 
Revolution. Hand wrote Crawford more fully before starting upon the 
expedition. The two letters are subjoined: 

" FoiiT Pitt, December 28, 1777. 

" Dear Crawford : — ^As I expect the pleasure of seeing you in a few 
days, I shall defer communicating a matter I much wish to set on foot, 
until that time. 

" There are at Cuyahoga, about one hundred miles from here, a mag- 
azine of arms and provisions, sent from Detroit, and fifteen batteaux 

lie there. You may guess the rest. 

" Yours, etc., 

" Edward Hand. 
" CoL. Wm. Crawford." 

" Yohogania County, Fehruary 5, 1778. 

" Dear Sir : — As I am credibly informed that the English have lodged 
a quantity of arms, ammunition, provision, and clothing at a small In- 
dian town, about one hundred miles from Fort Pitt to support the 
savages in their excursions against the inhabitants of this and the ad- 
jacent counties, I ardently wish to collect as many brave, active lads 
as are willing to turn out, to destroy this magazine. Every man must 



LETTER XXXIV 



!N"o. 34. — Washington to the Board of War. 

Headquarters, Yalley Forge, May 23, 1778. 

Dear Sir : — I have been favored with yours of the 19th, 
with its inclosures, ou the subject of the Indian ravages 
upon the western frontier. Previous to the receipt of it, 
I had put that part of the 13th Virginia regiment which 
remained here under marching orders, with an intent of 
sending them to Fort Pitt ; as they were raised in that 
country. Immediately upon receiving the account of the 
ahirming situation of the frontier inhabitants from you, I 
ordered the 8th Pennsylvania regiment to march. They 
were also raised to the westward, and are a choice body of 
men ; about one hundred of them have been constantly in 
Morgan's rifle corps. These two regiments will march 
hence, with the full number of two hundred and flfty men. 

There are upward of one hundred of the 13th Virginia 
now at and near Fort Pitt, and many deserters belonging 
to both will come in, when they find their regiments are to 
do duty in that country. 

As Colonel Russell^ of the 13th Virginia regiment is al- 

be provided with a horse, and every article necessary to equip them 
for the expedition, except ammunition, which, with some arms, I can. 
furnish. 

" It may be necessary to assure them that every thing they are 
able to bring away shall be sold at public vendue for the sole benefit 
of the captors, and the money equally distributed — tho' T am certain 
that a sense of the service they will render to their country will op- 
erate more strongly than the expectation of gain. I, therefore, ex- 
pect that you will use your influence on this occasion, and bring all the 
volunteers you can raise to Fort Pitt by the 15th of this month. 
" I am, dear sir, 

" Your obedient, humble servant, 

" Edward Hand. 

"Col. Wm. Crawford. 

" N. B. — The horses shall be appraised, and paid for if lost." 

^ William Russell, a Virginian. He early attempted to settle within 
"the limits of the expected new government" upon the Ohio, but 



68 WASHINGTOX-CEAWFOED LETTERS. 

ready a,t Fort Pitt, and Colone^ Brodhead^ commands, and 
goes up Avith, the 8th Pennsylvania, it was impossible to 
o;ive the command of the detachment to Lientenant-Col- 
onel Butler.^ Indeed he does not seem to wish to go upon 

failed. The following account of his mishap is from Hind's Pa. Gaz., 
Dec. 23, 1773: 

" The following inhuman affair we are assured from good authority 
was transacted on the frontiers of Fincastle [county, Virginia; the 
then most westerly county of the province], about the latter end of 
September last. Captain William Russell, wdth several families and 
upwards of thirty men, set out with the intention to reconoitre the 
country toward the Ohio, and settle in the limits of the exjaected new 
government. A few days after they set out, unluckily the pai-ty was 
separated into three detatchments; the main body in the front with 
the women and children and their cattle and baggage ; in the center 
was Captain Russell's son with five white men and two negroes, who, 
the fatal night before the murder, encamped a few miles short of the 
front. In the morning, about daybreak, while asleep in the camp, they 
were fired upon by a party of Indians, who killed young Mr. Russell 
and four other white men and one negro. Captain Russell, shortly 
after, bringing up the rear, unexpectedly came upon the corpse of his 
son, which was mangled in an inhuman manner; and there was left 
in him a dart-arrow, and a war-club was left beside him. After this 
unexpected event, the party getting intelligence of it returned to the 
inhabitants." 

^Daniel Brodhead raised a company of riflemen in 1775, and took 
part in the battle of Long Island. He was afterward appointed Col- 
onel of the 8th Pennsylvania regiment, and marched to Fort Pitt, as 
indicated above, in the summer of 1778. Here he served under Gen- 
eral Lachlan Mcintosh, until the next spring, when he succeeded to 
the command of the Western Department, headquarters at that post. 
He retained his position until the fall of 1781, making a very efficient 
and active commander; twice leading expeditions into the Indian 
country, in both of which he was successful. He was, after the war, 
Surveyor-General of Pennsylvania. He died at Milford, that State, on 
the 15th November, 1809. 

■^ Richard Butler. At the beginning of the Revolution, he was made 
a Lieutenant-Colonel, holding the same rank, at date of this letter, in 
Morgan's rifle corps, but was Colonel of the 9th Pennsylvania regiment 
at the close of the war. He was afterward agent of Indian affairs in the 
West; and in the expedition of St. Clair against the Indians, in 1791, 
he commanded the right wing of the army with the rank of Major- 
General. He was killed by the savages on the 4th of November, after 
receiving several wounds, being tomahawked and scalped by the mer- 
ciless foe. 



LETTEE XXXIV. 69 



the expedition, as he says his influence is not so great among 
tlie inhabitants of the back country as the Board imagine. 
From his knowledge of the Indian country, their language 
and manners, he certainly would be very useful ; and I shall, 
therefore, either send him or Colonel John Gibson ^ up, who, 
I am informed, can render equal service. I can very'illy spare 
the troops which I have sent, especially the 8th Pennsyl- 

^ John Gibson was born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on tlie 2od of 
May, 1740. He received a classical education, and was an excellent 
scholar at the age of eighteen, when he entered the service. His first 
campaign was under General Forbes, in the exjiedition which resulted 
in the acquisition of Fort Duquesne — afterward Fort Pitt — from the 
French. At the peace of 1763, he settled at that post as a trader. War 
broke out, shortly after, with the Indians, and Gibson was taken pris- 
oner at the mouth of Beaver in what is now Beaver county, Penn- 
sylvania, together with two men who were in his emj^loy. They were, 
at the time, descending the Ohio in a canoe. One of the men was 
immediately tortured at the stake, and the other shared the same fate 
as soon as the party reached the Kanawha. Gibson, however, was pre- 
served by an aged squaw, and adopted by her in the place of her son, 
who had been killed in battle. After remaining several years with 
the Indians, and becoming familiar with their language, mannei's, cus- 
toms, and traditions, he again settled at Fort Pitt, resuming his occu- 
pation of trading with the Indians. 

In 1774, Gibson acted a conspicuous part in the expedition against 
the Shawanese, under Lord Dunmore; particularly in negotiating the 
peace which followed. It w'as upon this occasion, near the waters of 
the Scioto river, in what is now Pickaway county, Ohio, that Logan, 
the Mingo chief, made to him the speech so celebrated in history. 

On the breaking out of the Revolution, Gibson was the Western 
agent of Virginia, at Fort Pitt. After the treaty held in October, 
1775, at that post, between the Delawares and representatives of the 
Shawanese and Senecas on the one part, and the Commissioners of the 
American Congress on the other part, by which the neutrality of the 
former tribe was secured, he undertook a tour to the Western Indians 
in the interest of peace. Upon his return, he entered the service, 
rising, finally, to the command of the 13th Virginia regiment, being 
sent back to Fort Pitt as indicated by Washington, in the above letter, 
in the summer of 1778. He remained at that post until the close of the 
Avar. He was a member of the convention which framed the Consti- 
tution of the State of Pennsylvania in 1790; and, subsequently, was a 
judge of Allegheny county, that State; also, a major-general of militia. 
He was Secretary of the Territory of Indiana until it became a State. 
He died in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, Api-il 10, 1822. 



70 WASHINGTO?^-CRAWFOED LETTEES. 

vauia regiment, which composted the greatest part of Mor- 
gan's corps, as the drafts and recruits from the different 
States not only fall short of the stipulated numbers, but 
come in extremely slow. 

If Colonel John Gibson goes up, he will take the com- 
mand of the 13th Virginia regiment pro tempore, and Col- 
onel Russell will come down to Gibson's. There is a dis- 
pute subsisting between Colonel Russell and Colonel Will- 
iam Crawford for the 13th Virginia regiment, and I do not 
mean that this temporary appointment of Colonel Gibson 
to the command of it should prejudice Colonel Crawford's 
claim, should he incline to prosecute it hereafter. If the 
two regiments to be raised upon the frontiers are not dis- 
posed of I would recommend Colonel Crawford to the com- 
mand of one of them. I know him to be a brave and act- 
ive officer, and of considerable influence upon the western 
frontier of Virginia. I am, etc. 



No. 35. — Crawford to Washington. 

Fort Pitt, July 12, 1779. 

Dear General: — Sometime last summer, I wrote you in 
regard to ray being left out of the Virginia Line, as it 
put it out of my power to serve as an officer with the Con- 
tinental army with my proper rank ; ^ but I do not know 
whether my letter came to your hands or not.^ 

When General Mcintosh went to Headquarters this 
spring, he told me he would acquaint you with my case.^ 

^Crawford having been detached from the 13th Virginia regiment, 
was never after able to secure his proper place in the Continental line, 
much as Washington desired to accommodate him. 

^ This letter was probably never received by Washington. 

^ In May, 1778, Brigadier-General Lachlan Mcintosh was appointed 
by Washington to the command of the Western Department, at Fort 
Pitt, lie arrived at that post early in August, relieving Brigadier- 



LETTEE XXXV. 71 



He gave me for unsAvertliat I must attend at Headquarters 
m\'self, or I could not have the matter settled ; but that I 
might have to stay some time to have my matters some 
way arranged ; which I must beg leave to do, there being 
a way of having them now done, Congress having sent an 
auditor to this Department for the purpose of settling ac- 
counts of the army. 

Colonel Clark's affairs have changed the disposition of 
the Indians niuch.^ They have done very little mischief 
this summer ; and in particular since the people down the 
river burnt the Shawnese town, or part of it, and killed 
three of their chief men.^ A very little trouble would de- 
General Edward Hand. His exertions were directed against Detroit, 
to accomplish the destruction of which, he caused to be built, in Octo- 
ber, Fort Mcintosh, near the present site of Beaver, in Beaver county, 
Pennsjdvania, and afterward, marching into the Indian country, 
erected Fort Laurens ujjon the Tuscarawas, half a mile below the 
present town of Bolivar, in Tuscarawas county, Ohio. His plans 
against Detroit proved, in the end, abortive ; and in the spring of 
1779 he was recalled at his own request, being succeeded in command 
by Colonel Daniel Brodhead, of the 8th Pennsylvania regiment. He 
repaired immediately thereafter to Washington's headquarters, as men- 
tioned by Crawford in the above letter. 

^ Early in 1778, Lieutenant-Colonel George Rogers Clark, having 
planned a secret expedition against the Illinois covmtry, then in pos- 
session of Great Britain, arrived in the western countrj'' to further his 
plans. In Maj^ with a small force, he set sail for the Falls of the 
Ohio. The result of the expedition was the capture of Kaskaskia, St. 
Phillips, Cahokia, Prairie du Rocher, and Vincennes. The effect was, 
as Crawford states, to change, for a time, the disposition of many of 
the Western Indians, and, permanently so, a number of tribes living 
upon the Mississippi river nearest to the scenes of his conquest. 

^ In the month of May, 1779, Colonel John Bowman, of Kentucky, 
collected together a small army to attack Chillicothe, a Shawanese 
town about three miles north of the present town of Xenia, county- 
seat of Greene county, Ohio. With two hundred and sixty-two 
men, early in the morning of the 30th of that month, he encompassed 
tiie village and set fire to it. His success was only partial in its de- 
struction — the council-house of the enemy defying the assaults of the 
Americans. After killing several of the savages and securing a large 
amount of plunder, the expedition returned with slight loss, proving 
by no means a failure, although not as much was accomplished as had 
been expected. 



72 WASHINGTON-CRAWFORD LETTERS. 

stroy the whole of the Shawan^e towns by sending a party 
of about six hundred men to the mouth of Licking creek,^ 
below the Scioto ; from there, it is no more than fifty miles, 
as I am informed, by those that were in the action, and a 
good road the whole way, there being no hills or defiles to 
prevent us from carrying two field pieces, four to six 
pounders, that would batter down block-houses which the 
Shawanese have built to defend themselves in their towns. 
The people at Kentucky and at the Falls would be glad, 
as they liave informed us that they would join a party from 
this place for that purpose. When the corn is in roasting 
ears would be a good time for the expedition. I only men- 
tion this. Sir, for your consideration, in case matters should 
not be otherwise settled. 

Colonel Brodhead has spoken to me to join him with 
some of the militia of Virginia to go on a short campaign 
against a Mingo town up the Alleghany, which I have 
agreed to ; as I would not wish to hurt the service, or leave 
it in the power of him to say I did not do everything I 
could to serve my country ; which is the only motive I 
have for serving one moment.^ As soon as that is done and 
my accounts are settled, I will attend at Headquarters, un- 
less you should order me otherwise. 

As soon as Fort Randolph, at the mouth of the Kanawha, 
was evacuated, the Indians burnt it,^ Agreeable to my 

^"Licking creek" empties into the Ohio, at Covington, Kentucky, 
opposite the city of Cincinnati. It was at its mouth that the compa- 
nies under Bowman rendezvoused. 

^ At the date of this letter, the Senecas and Monseys, from their 
towns far up the Alleghany river, were so much in the habit of ma- 
rauding upon the northern frontier line of the Western settlements, 
that Colonel Daniel Brodhead, then in command at Fort Pitt, resolved 
to punish their audacity, by marching against them from that post, 
early in August. His expedition was sviccessful. It effectually 
checked the murderous incursions of the savages from the north. 
Crawford accompanied the army " with some of the militia of Vir- 
ginia," as he expresses it; meaning thereby the militia of his region, 
who were still spoken of as Virginians. 

^ Fort Randolph, at Point Pleasant, was evacuated not long previous 
to this date. It was built in the spring of 1775, by Virginia troops 
under command of Captain Matthew Arbuckle. 



LETTER XXXVI. 73 



promise, I advertised yonr land on Miller's run, forewarn- 
ing all persons from purchasing any part of it, as some were 
proposing selling it ; and I shall do it again, as the land 
office is now open for patenting lands in the New Pur- 
chase.^ I hope. Sir, you will excuse my troubling you with 
this long letter. I am, etc. 



'No. 36. — Crawfokd to Washington. 

Fort Pitt, August 10, 1779. 
Dear General : — Agreeable to my promise the last time 
I had the pleasure of seeing you, I advertised your lands 
on Chartier's that are settled by those men I formerly in- 
formed you of. They still remain on the land.^ I suppose 
you may have heard the Land Office is to be opened the 
first of October next. All land settled is to be entered now 
with the Treasurer at Williamsburgh, the purchase money 
to be paid to him, and his receipt to the surveyor is the 
warrant. Any land settled and improved is to be pur- 
chased at the old rate, and unimproved land at £40 per 
hundred acres; there can be no more than four hundred 

^Washington, as will be seen below, had previously obtained a 
patent for these lands, of Lord Dunmore. 

^ Lord Dunmore, as Lieutenant and Governor-General of the Colony 
of Virginia, issued a patent to Washington for these lands, on the 5th 
of July, 1775, for the amount of two thousand eight hundred and thir- 
teen acres. They were described as "being in Augusta county, Vir- 
ginia, on the waters of Miller's run, one of the branches of Chartier's 
creek, which is a branch of the Ohio." It is in the present township of 
Chartiers, in Washington county, Pennsylvar^a. 

In the Autumn of 1784, Washington visited these lands, and brought 
suit in ejectment, in Washington county, for their recovery from Sam- 
uel McBride, James McBride, Thomas Biggart, Wm. Stewart, Brice 
McGehan, John Reed, Thomas Glen, James Scott, William Hillis, and 
Matthew Johnson. In this suit, he was successful. On the 1st of 
June, 1796, he sold the lands to Matthew Ritchie, of Washington county, 
for the sum of twelve thousand dollars. 



74 WASHINGTON-CRAWFOED LETTERS. 

acres in a survey. This is wl^t I am told is the Acts of 
the Assembly, but I have not seen them as yet. All dis- 
putes about improvements are to be settled by auditors for 
that purpose, appointed by the Assembly, who are to at- 
tend on the premises. 

Your Hound Bottom tract, I suppose, will be settled that 
way, as a patent has not yet been obtained for it, as I un- 
derstand. Should I be here at the time it is settled, I will 
attend. If I do not, you may chance to lose it, as I am 
better acquainted with the circumstances than any other 
person. Young Tomliiison, who iirst improved the land, 
was with me when I surveyed it, and carried the chain 
round it, and gave up any title he had to you, upon my in- 
forming him that you claimed that land. There was no 
improvement on the laud when I surveyed it for you but 
Tomlinson's, as I saw. Your houses down the river are all 
burnt by the Indians. Kentucky and the Falls are settling 
very rapidly. 

Your present situation will not admit of your obtaining 
any of those lands without some assistance. Young Har- 
rison is going down immediately. I intend getting him to 
take a good tract of two or three thousand acres, if it is 
to be had, for which I will fall on some way of securing it 
for you and acquaint you by the first opportunity. I men- 
tion tliis, as you may want some near the Falls or some place 
of convenience, as all these places will in a short time be 
taken, if not already. I believe I shall go there myself, as 
soon as I can be at liberty from the service of my country. 
I intend to go to Headquarters as soon as I conveniently 
can. I wish j-ou success, and remain your most humble 
and obedient servant. 



LETTER XXXVli. 75 



No. 37. — Crawford to Washington. 

May 23, 1781. 

Dear General : — Sometime ago, I wrote you relative to 
your Round Bottom tract of land. I can never find out 
what has been done about it, whether Thomas LcAvis has 
returned it or not. If you can give me any direction about 
it, I will do anything in my power for you. The survey 
ought to be returned to the office, if it has not been. This 
I will have done, if it has not been returned; as I can have 
it done immediately. 

I intend going out with General Clark, on the present 
expedition, if my health will permit ; ^ but I am very un- 
healthy lately, having got much cold on the two last ex- 
peditions, they having been made in the winter, or, at 
least, in cold weather. Any directions you may want to 
give me, you can send by Mr. Randolph, who comes to 
my house on his way to General Clark. I am, etc.^ 

^This was an expedition intended, in reality, to strike Detroit — but 
first to attack the Indian tribes that had their homes between Ken- 
tucky and that post; as the army was to move from that country. 
George Rogers Clark with volunteers and militia obtained from the 
vicinity of Fort Pitt, including a regiment of Virginia State troops 
and a company of artillery — in all about four hundred men — moved 
down the Ohio from Pittsburgh about the first of August, 1781, for the 
Falls (Louisville). The enterprise, finally, proved unsuccessful. Craw- 
ford did not accompany the expedition as he had intended. 

^This, so far as is known, ended the correspondence between Crawford 
and Washington. One year and a day from that date, he penned his 
last letter, while on his way to Sandusky, upon the expedition which 
cost him his life, particulars of which are given in Butterfield's Craw- 
forcVs Campaign against Sandusky, in 1782. It was directed to Brigadier- 
General William Irvine, who was then in command of Fort Pitt, under 
whose authority he was acting. In it are these words : " I shall en- 
deavor to do all in my power for the good of my country." 



APPENDIX. 

/ I. 

Washington to John Witherspoon. 

Mount Yernon, March 10, 1784. 

Eeverend Sir : — The recourse which I have had to my papers 
since I returned home, reminds me of a question which you 
asked me in Philadelphia, respecting my lands to the westward 
of the Alleghany mountains ; to which I was unprepared at 
that time to give a decided answer, either as to the quantity 1 
had to let or the terms upon which I would lease them. 

Upon examination, I find that I have patents under the sig- 
nature of Lord Dunmore (while he administered the govern- 
ment of this State) for about 30,000 acres, and surveys for about 
10,000 more, patents for which were suspended by the disputes 
with Great Britain, which soon followed the return of the war- 
rants to the land-oflSce. 

Ten thousand acres of the above thirty [thousand] lie upon 
the Ohio ; the rest on the Great Kenhawa, a river nearly as 
large, and quite as easy in its navigation, as the former. The 
whole of it is rich bottom land, beautifully situated on these 
rivers, and abounding plenteously in fish, wild-fowl, and game 
of all kinds. 

The uppermost tract upon the Ohio (which I incline to lease), 
contains 2314 acres, and begins about four miles below the 
mouth of the Little Kenawha (there are two rivers bearing that 
name,^ the uppermost of which is about one hundred and eighty 
miles below Fort Pitt by water), and has a front on the water 
of more than five miles. The next is eighteen miles lower 
down, and contains 2448 acres, with a front on the stream, and a 
large creek which empties into it, of four miles and upwards. 
Three miles below this again, on the same stream, and just above 

1 Washington's meaning is that there are two rivers called Kenhawa 
(Kanawha) : the Little Kenhawa and the Great Kenhawa. 

(77) 



78 APPENDIX. 



what is called the Big Bend, in Erans' Map,^ is a third tract of 
4395 acres, with a river front of more than five miles. 

Then going to the Great Kenhawa, distant about twelve miles 
b}" land, but thirty odd to follow the meanders of the two rivers, 
and beginning within three miles of the mouth, I hold lands on 
the right and left of the river, and bounded thereby forty-eight 
miles and a half; all of which, being on the margin of the stream, 
and extending not more than from half a mile to a mile back, 
are, as has been observed before, rich, low grounds. 

From this description of my lands, with the aid of Evans' or 
Hutchin's Map,^ of that countr}', a good general knowledge of 
their situation may be obtained by those who incline to become 
adventurers in the settlement of them ; but it may not be im- 
proper to observe further, that they were surveyed under the 
Eoyal Proclamation of 1763 (granting to each commissioned and 
non-commissioned officer, according to his rank, and to the pri- 
vate soldier certain quantities), and under a yet older proclama- 
tion from Mr. Dinwiddle, then lieutenant-governor of the colony, 
issued by the advice of his council to encourage and benefit the 
military adventurers of the year 1754, while the land-office was 
shut against all other applicants. It is not reasonable to sup- 
pose, therefore, that those who had the first choice, had five 
years allowed them to make it, and a large district to survey in, 
were inattentive either to the quality of the soil, or the advan- 
tages of situation. 

But supposing no pre-eminence in quality, the title to these 
lands is indisputable ; and, by lying on the south-east side of the 
Ohio, they are not subject to the claims of the Indians; conse- 
quently will be free from their disturbances, and from the dis- 
putes, in which the settlers on the north-west side (when the In- 
dians shall permit any) and even on the same side lower down 
will be involved ; for it should seem that there is already loca- 
tion upon location, and scai'ce anything else talked of but land- 
jobbing and monopolies, before Congress have even settled the 
terms upon which the ceded lands are to be obtained. . . . 

With sentiments of great esteem and respect, I am, etc.^ 

1 "A General Map of the Middle British Colonies in America," etc. By 
Lewis Evans, 1755. 

2 "A New Map of the "Western Parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania," etc. 
By Thomas Hutchins, London, 1778. ^ 

3 This letter has heen published in full by Sparks; so, also, have the two 
which follow. See " Writings of "Washington," Vol. XIL, pp. 264, 275, 317. 



APPENDIX. 79 



/^ Washington to Thomas Freeman. 

September 23, 1785. 

Sir : — The situation of my affairs on the western waters in 
the States of Pennsylvainia and Virginia requiring a superin- 
tendent, and 5"ou having been pleased toaceeptthe appointment, 
I must beg leave to point out to jou the performance of such 
duties as are particularly necessary. 

These will be to settle tenants upon my lands ; collect the 
rents which will arise therefrom, the debts which will proceed 
from the sale of my copartnership effects, such others as maybe 
due to me from persons living as above; and, in general, to act 
and do (where no particular instruction is given) in the same 
manner as you would for yourself under like circumstances ; en- 
deavoring in all cases by fair and lawful means to jiromote my 
interest in this country. 

My land on the Ohio and Great Kenhawa will be rented on 
the terms contained in a printed advertisement herewith given 
you ; and. as my disbursements will be great, I should prefer 
the last-mentioned therein to the other two, as the immediate 
profit arising therefrom is greatest. It is my wish, also, that 
each tract could be rented on the same terms, though I do not 
bind you thereto. 

The remainder of my untenanted lands, in the tract eom- 
raonl}' called and distinguished by the name of Washingtoii's 
Bottom^ may be rented on the best terms you can obtain, until 
the close of the year 1794, and no longer. Less than what I am 
to get from the other tenants on the same tract, after allowing 
them three j^ears free from the payment of rent, I should not 
incline to take; more, I think, ought to be had and may be got. 

My tract at the Great Meadows may be rented for the most 
you can get for the term of ten years. There is a house on the 
premises, arable land in culture, and meadow inclosed. Much 
of the latter may be reclaimed at a very moderate expense; 
which, and its being an excellent stand for an innkeeper, must 
render it valuable. 

All my rents are to be fixed in specie dollars (Spanish coin), 

' This tract is the one on which Perry ojiol is, Fayette county, Pennsyl- 
vania, is now located. 



80 APPENDIX. 



but may be discharged in any gold or silver coin of equiva- 
lent value. The tenants, in all cases, are to pay the land-tax, 
which, to prevent disputes, is to be expressed in the leases ; and 
it will be a necessary part of your duty to visit them at proper 
and convenient periods, to see that the covenants, to the jDcr- 
formance of which they are bound, are strictly fulfilled and 
complied with. 

Where acts of Providence interfere to disable atenant, I would 
be lenient in the exaction of rent ; but, when the cases are other- 
wise, I will not be put off; because it is on these my own ex- 
penditures dei^end, and because an accumulation of undis- 
charged rents is a real injury to the tenant. 

In laying off and dividing any of the lands herein mentioned 
into lots and tenements, particular care mnst be had, that they 
are accurately surveyed, properly bounded, and so distributed 
as to do equal justice to the several grantees and to the grantor ; 
that a few may not injure the whole, and spoil the market of 
them. 

If you should not have offers in a short time for the hire of 
my mill^ alone, or for the mill with one hundred and fifty acres 
of land adjoining, I think it advisable, in that case, to let it on 
shares, to build a good and substantial dam of stone where the 
old one stood, and to erect a proper fore-baj' in j^lace of the 
trunk which now conducts the water to the wheel; and, in a 
word, to put the house in proper i-epair. If you should be 
driven to this for want of a tenant, let public notice thereof be 
given, and the work let to the lowest bidder ; the undertaker 
finding himself, and giving bond and security for the perform- 
ance of his contract. The charges of these things must be paid 
out of the first moneys you receive for rent or otherwise. If I 
could get fifteen hundred pounds for the mill and one hundred 
acres of land most convenient thereto, I would let it go for that 
money. 

As a compensation for the faithful performance of all these 
services, I agree to allow you five per cent for all the money 
which shall be collected and paid to me or for my use, whether aris- 
ing from rents, bonds, notes or open accounts, or from the sale 
of wheat or flour taken for rents and converted into cash. Also 
twenty shillings, Pennsylvania currency, for every tenant who 

^ This mill is the one already mentioned as having been built at the site 
of the present Perryopolis, Pa. 



APPENDIX. 81 



shall be fixed on any of my land, and who shall receive a lease 
for the same on the terms mentioned ; and the further sum of 
two dollars for every lot which you shall lay off for such tenants, 
together with such reasonable expenses as may be incurred 
thereby. 



Washington to Presley Neville. 

Philadelphia, June 16, 1794. 

Sir : — I should have written you at an earlier period, but for 
the extreme hurry into which I was thrown at the close of the 
session of Congress, which did not terminate before Monday last, 
and from my not having adverted, in time, to the Pittsburg post- 
day of last week. This letter, as I shall set out for Virginia to- 
morrow, is left to go by next Saturday's mail. 

Inclosed is a blank power, authorizing Mr. Charles Morgan, 
or any other with whose name yon shall fill it, to collect the 
rents arising from mj^ land in Fayette and Washington counties, 
in this State, together with such arrearages as may be due for 
the preceding j'ears, if anj^ there be. Another blank is also 
left, which I pray you to fill up with the percentage to be al- 
lowed as a compensation for the trouble and expense of collec- 
tion. The inducements to this are, first, because I do not recol- 
lect what Colonel Cannon' has been allowed for his services; 
and, secondly, because there is no invariable allowance estab- 
lished, places and circumstances varying it. 

A letter from Colonel Cannon is also inclosed, requesting him 
to give the necessary information to his successor, and to desire 
that he would discontinue all further agency in my business. 
This letter is left open, for your insertion of the name of his 
successor. The emolument arising from this collection is too 
trifling to become an object worthy your acceptance, or I should 
never have inquired for another before I had offered it to you. 

From the experience of many yeai's, I have found distant 
property in land more pregnant of perplexities than profit. I 
have therefore resolved to sell all I hold on the Western waters, 
if I can obtain the prices which I conceive their quality, their 

1 John Canon. He resided at ("anonsburg, "Washington county, Penn- 
sylvania, a town laid out by him on the 15th of April, 1788. Before that 
date, it was known simply as "Canon's." 



82 APPENDIX. 



situation, and other advantages A^ould authorize me to expect. 
Conversing with Mr. Eoss, one of your senators, on this subject, 
a day or two before he left the city, he gave it to me as his opin- 
ion that the present juncture was favorable for the sale of my 
land in this State, and Avas so obliging as to offer his services to 
eflFect it. He thought the quality of my land in Fayette county, 
together with the improvements and show of iron-ore within 
less than thirty yards of the mill door, ought on credit to com- 
mand six dollars [an acre]. The other I have always held at 
four dollars. The former tract contains 1,644 acres ; the latter, 
2,813 acres by the patent, but it measures more than 3,000 acres 
by subsequent survey. 

If, Sir, as you live at Pittsburg, the probable place of inquir- 
ing after land in that countrj^, 3'ou should find it convenient, and 
not militating against any plans of your own, to make mention 
of mine, and to aid Mr. Eoss in the sale of these tracts, it would 
oblige me. 

If a foui'th of the purchase money is paid at the time of con- 
veyance, a credit of four, five, or six years might be allowed for 
the remainder, provided it is fully secured, and the interest 
thereon regularl}- paid at one of the banks in this state — Balti- 
more, Georgetown, or Alexandria. To receive this without 
trouble, and with punctuality^, as it becomes due, will be insisted 
upon. 

My land on the Ohio and Great Kenhawa rivers, amounting to 
32,373 acres, was once sold for sixty-five thousand French crowns, 
to a French gentleman, who was veiy competent to the payment 
at the time the contract was made ; but, getting a little embar- 
rassed in his finances by the revolution in his country, by mu- 
tual agreement the bargain was canceled. Lately, I have been 
in treaty for the same land, at three dollars and a third per acre 
for the whole quantity; but, being connected with other mat- 
ters, it is not likely to result in a bargain, as I once expected, 
and therefore I am at liberty to seek another market. 

To give a further description of these lands than to say they 
are^thp cream of the country in which they are, that tliey were 
the first choice of it, and that the whole is on the margin of the 
rivers, and bounded thereb}' for fifty-eight miles, would be un- 
necessary to you, who must have a pretty accurate idea of them 
and their value. But it may not be amiss to add, for the in- 
formation of others, that the quantity before mentioned is con- 
tained in seven surveys, to wit : Three on the Ohio, east side, 



APPENDIX. 83 



between the mouths of the Little and Great Kenhawas. The 
first is the first hirge bottom below the mouth of the Little Ken- 
hawa, containing 2,314 acres, and is bounded by the river five 
miles and a quarter. The second is the fourth large bottom, on 
the same side of the river, about sixteen miles lower down, con- 
taining 2,448 acres, bounded by the river three miles and a 
quarter. The third is the next large bottom, three miles and a 
half below, and opposite nearly to the Great Bend, containing 
4,395 acres, with a margin on the river of five miles. The other 
four tracts are on the Great Kenhawa. The first of them con- 
tains 10,990 acres, on the west side, and begins within two or 
thi-ee miles of the mouth of it, and is bounded thereby for more 
than seventeen miles. The second is on the east side of the 
river, a little higher up, containing 7,276 acres, and bounded by 
the stream thirteen miles. The other two are at the mouth of 
Cole river, on both sides and in the fork thereof, containing to- 
gether 4,950 acres, and, like the others, are all interval land, 
having a front upon the water of twelve miles. 

Besides these, I have the Kound Bottom, opposite to Pipe 
creek, about fifteen miles below Wheeling, which contains 587 
acres,^ with two miles and a half front on the river, and of qual- 
ity inferior to none thereon ; and 234 acres at the Great Meadows, 
on Braddock's road, with the allowances. 

For the whole of these tracts taken together, I would allow 
seven years' credit, without requiring a fourth of the purchase 
monej' to be paid down, provided the principal is amply secured, 
and the interest also, in the manner before mentioned; for to 
have no disappointment or trouble in the receipt of this must be 
a sine qua non. If the tracts are sold separately, I should ex- 
pect a fourth of the purchase to be paid down, and more than 
three dollars and a quarter per acre for the Eound Bottom and 
the tract of 10,990 acres on the Great Kenhawa, knowing from 
my own view the extraordinary value of these tracts. With 
very great esteem and regard, I am, etc. 

^This tract Washington sold to Archibald McClean; and, instead of 587 
acres, it was found, by accurate survey, to contain over one thousand. 



84 APPENDIX. 



II. 

Valentine Crawford's Letters to "Washington. 

Jacob's Creek,^ April 27, 1774. 
Dear Sir : — Since 1 wrote jovi, my brother came home and is 
sworn in, having received his commission.^ He was very 
friendly treated at S^unton. It was out of his power to send 
you your plats as you desired. I went to Gilbert Simpson's as soon 
as I got out, and gave him the bill of scantling you gave me, and 
the bill of his articles. I offered him all the servants^ that he 
might take them to your Bottom,* until we got our crews at 
work ; but he refused for fear they would run away from him. 
As we had our canoes to build, I could not spare the carpenters, 
as I am endeavoring to get ready to start as soon as I possibly 

^Jacob's creek is an affluent of the Yougiogheny river, falling into that 
stream on the right, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. 

^ The commission here spoken of as having been received by William 
Crawford, was that of captain of militia. His object in accepting the office 
was to aid in protecting the border from the threatened Indian invasions, by 
raising and commanding a company of men to act as scouts down the Ohio. 

^ These were convict servants from Great Britain. Such servants were 
constantly sent to Virginia, up to the time of the Revolution, and were sold 
to servitude in the colony. The following is from the Virginia Gazette, 
March 3d, 1768 : 

"Just arrived— the Neptune, Captain Arbuckle, with one hundred and 
ten healthy servants, men, women, and boys, among whom are many valua- 
ble tradesmen, viz. : tailors, weavers, barbers, blacksmiths, carpenters and 
joiners, shoemakers, a stay-maker, cooper, cabinet-maker, bakers, silver- 
smiths, a gold and silver refiner, and many others. The sale will commence 
at Leedstown, on the Rappahannoc, on Wednesday, the 9th of this (March). 
A reasonable credit will be allowed on giving approved security to 

" Thomas Hodge." 

*By this is meant the land then belonging to Washington, usually known 
as Washington's Bottom, in what is now Fayette county, Pennsylvania. 
Simpson was, at that date, engaged upon Washington's mill. It will be re- 
membered that this mill was afterward spoken of hy William Crawford as 
located at " Simpson's," the site of the present town of Perryopolis. 



APPENDIX. 85 



can ; * bat it appeal's to me the most troublesome business 1 ever 
undertook in my life. However, I shall endeavor to go through 
with it with all the resolution I possibly can. I would fain hope 
to give you satisfaction, but I am afraid it is out of my power. 

I shall write you very full in my next, before I start. 1 am, 
etc. 

P. S. — 1 hope I shall be able to start in four or five days. 



Jacob's Creek, May 6, 1774. 

Dear Colonel : — I am sorry to inform' you that the disturb- 
ance between the white people and the Indians has prevented my 
going down the river; as all the gentlemen who went down are 
returned, and most of them have lost their baggage, as I wrote 
more particular in my other letter. 1 will refer you to my broth- 
er's letter for the news. 

I got m}^ canoes and all my provisions ready, and should have 
set off in two or three days but for this eruption, which I be- 
lieve was as much the white people's fault as the Indians. It 
has almost ruined all the settlers over the Monongahela, as they 
run as bad as they did in the year 1756 and 1757, down in 
Frederick county.^ There were more than one thousand jDeople 
crossed the Monongahela in one day. I thought it, therefore, 
dangerous to go down with so much of your property, and so 
came to a resolution to send my son down to you to know what 
I must do with your servants and goods, and how I must act 
with your hirelings. 

As to the goods, I have stored them ; and I went to Mr. Simp- 
son as soon as I came up, and offered him some of the carpen- 

^ Valentine Crawfoi'd was then nearly ready to start down the Ohio, with 
laborers and supplies, intending to improve some of the lands belonging to 
Washington, which had been secured to the latter by the aid of William 
Crawford. 

^ After Braddock's defeat, there was a general uprising among the West- 
ern tribes of Indians against the English. Then, for the first time, the fron- 
tiers of Virginia experienced the horrors of savage warfare. The recollec- 
tion of those times was still vivid, it seems, in the mind of Valentine Craw- 
ford, who then resided in Frederick (afterward Berkeley) county, now Jef- 
ferson county, West Virginia. 



86 APPENDIX. 



ters and all the servants ; but he refused taking them — the lat- 
ter, for fear they would run away ; he has, however, now agreed 
to take some of both : the carpenters to do the framing for the 
mill, and the servants to dig the race. Stephens ^ has agreed to 
quit, provided the Indians make peace, and you will employ him 
again. He has all his tools here, and it would be out of his 
poAver to get them back again, as he has no means of convey- 
ance. 

I am afraid I shall be obliged to build a fort until this erup- 
tion is over, which I am in hopes will not last long. I trust you 
will write me full instructions as to what I must do. Mr. Simp- 
son, yesterday, seemed very much scared ; but I cheered him up 
all I could. He and his laborers seemed to conclude to build a 
fort, if times grew any worse. I am building a kind of block- 
house myself, and have employed some of your carpenters to 
help me, which I will settle with you for. I have run you to as 
little cost as possible for provisions, as our journey is stopped ; 
but if peace should be made soon, I shall provide more, as I have 
my canoes ready, unless you order me to the contrary when my 
son returns. 

As you are largely bail for me, and kindly went my security 
to the sheriff, I have sent you a bill of sale of my land I live on 
for fear of accidents in war; as you are the last man in the 
world I should choose to be loser by me. In case I can not go 
down the river for you, if you should choose to sell the servants, 
my brother, William Ci-awford, wants two of them ; but if there 
is the least chance of going, I am ready and willing to serve you 
to the best of my ability. I am, etc. 



Jacob's Creek, May 7, 1774. 
Dear Sir: — I am sorry to inform you the Indians have stop- 
ped all the gentlemen from going down the river. In the first 
place, they killed one Murphy, a trader, and wounded another; 
then robbed their canoes.'' This alarmed the gentlemen very 

^ Stephens was a millwright, and was engaged by Washington upon the 
mill he was then erecting, as will presently he seen. 

^ For ten years immediately following Pontiac's war, there was peace upon 
the Western border; but it was a nominal one; for, during the whole time 
from 1764 to 1774, murders were frequent — committed sometimes by the 



APPENDIX. 87 



much ; and Major Cresap took a party of men and waylaid some 
Indians in their canoes, that were going down the rivei*, and shot 
two of them and scalped them. He also raised a party, took 
canoes and followed some Indians from Wheeling down to the 
Little Kanawha; when, coming up with them, he killed three 
and wounded several. The Indians wounded three of his men, 
only one of whom is dead ; he was shot through, while the other 
two were but slightly wounded. On Saturdaj- last, about 12 
o'clock, one Grcathouse, and about twenty men. fell on a purty 
of Indians at the mouth of Yellow creek, and killed ten of 
them. They brought away one child a prisoner, which is now 
at my brother William Crawford's.^ These circumstances have 
put it out of my power to execute your business. I, therefore, 
came to a resolution to send my son down to you to let you know 
of this disagreeable disappointment, and to learn what I must 
do with your carpenters, servants, and goods. This alarm has 
caused the people to move from over the Monongahela, off Char- 
tier's and Eaccoon [creeks], as fast as ever you saw them in the 
year 1756 or 1757, down in Frederick county, Virginia. Thei-e 
were more than one thousand people crossed the Monongahela 
in one day at three ferries that are not one mile apart. 

Mr. Simpson seems much frightened at this alarm ; but I went 
to him the day after I got home to Jacob's creek, and offered 
him all the servants and some of the carpenters. As we were 
obliged to make our own canoes, some of the carpenters 1 had 
to retain to work on them. Just as I had got all our canoes and 

savages, and at other times b}' the whites. Neither side was prepared by a 
continuous forbearance to avoid a conflict which, sooner or later, vvonld be 
surely brought on between them. "The surveyors that went down the Ka- 
nawha," wrote William Crawford, two daj's after the above letter was writ- 
ten by his brother Valentine, " as report goes, were stopped by the Shawa- 
nese Indians." This, as he understood it, was the first act in the bloody 
drama of 1774. But Valentine Crawford had quite another report to give 
of the "beginning of the end:" "In the first place, they [the Indians] 
killed one Murphj*, a trader, and wounded another; then robbed their ca- 
noes." Doubtless, among the Indians, the first overt act was charged up to 
the Long Knives. It is certain there were aggressions on both sides. 

^ The exact date of this exploit of Greathouse and party, usually known 
as the " Yellow creek massacre," so long a matter of uncertainty, is fixed 
by the above, bej'ond a peradventure — Saturday, April 30, 1774. The Mingo, 
Logan's brother, known as John Petty, his mother and sister — the latter the 
mother of the child, then only two months old — were all slain. The child- 
prisoner being Logan's niece, it follows that his relatives were not all killed. 



88 APPENDIX. 



our pi'ovisions and everything neady to start, we were stopped 
by the alarms as above. I have stored all your goods and tools 
safely ; and if the Indians should come to a pause, 1 am ready 
to start at the shortest warning. 

Your servants ai'e all in very good health, and if you should 
incline selling them, I believe 1 could sell them for cash out here 
to different people. My brother, William Crawford, wants two 
of them, and I would take two myself; or, if this disturbance 
should be settled, I could push down the river immediately, and 
could do a great deal this fall. In the meantime, your men 
might build some houses at your Bottom or at the Great Mead- 
ows ; or, as I mentioned, the carpenters would be willing to be 
dischai'ged, if you would be willing to emploj' them again as 
soon as this difficulty is over. Pray give mo full particulars how 
to act in this troublesome affair. I am, etc. 



Gist's,! j^^^ ^3^ 1774 
Dear Sir : — 1 write to let you know that all your servants 
are well, and that none have run away. Mr. Simpson has as 
many of the carpenters as he can find work for, and has got 
some of the servants assisting about the seat for the mill, until 
this storm of the Indians blows over. 

"We this day received some cows from Wheeling. Several of 
the inhabitants of that part are gone back and are planting 
their corn. 

David Shepherd,^ who lives down at Wheeling, moved his 
family up to my house, but he has gone back himself, and is 
planting his corn. I am sure if he can stay at Wheeling, I can 
go down with your men and go to work on your land ; but, 
until my son, whom I have sent to you. returns, I shall let Mr. 
Simpson keep all the men he chooses, both carpenters and ser- 

^Now Mount Braddock, Faj^ette county, Pennsylvania, the former home, 
it will be remembered, of Christopher Gist, the first white settler west of the 
Alleghany mountains. Gist was not alive at the above date. 

^ David Shepherd was long a prominent citizen of the West. As Lieu- 
tenant of Ohio county, Virginia, he rendered very efficient service, during 
the Revolution, in protecting the country along the Ohio river, above and 
below Wheeling, from savage incursions. In April, 1781, he commanded 
one hundred and thirtj'-four militia, in the campaign against Coshocton, 
an Indian town, now the site of Coshocton, Ohio, under the lead of Colonel 
Daniel Bi-odhead. 



APPENDIX. . 89 



vants. As for the laborers I employed for you and Doctor Craik, 
I have discharged them, and they are gone with my brother 
William, under pay as militia, to guard the people down about 
Chartier's, to enable them to get their stock away ;^ as many of 
the inhabitants came away and left everything they had behind 
them. But there are numbers of them since, returning back and 
planting their corn, but have left their wives and children be- 
hind, in our neighborhood. I hope, therefore, to be able yet to 
go down the river, if we have no worse news, in a short time ; 
but I shall wait for my son's returning with an answer from 
you. I wrote you very fully by him, and I write this line or 
two by Mr. Johnson, who is going straight to Williamsburg, 
where he will meet with you ; so, pray, write me very fully how 
I am to act. I am, etc. 

P. S. — I saw some gentlemen who came very lately from Will- 
liamsburg, at ray house, last night, and they say there will be a 
new county set off. They also informed me that Lord Dunmore 
has issued a proclamation that he will find both men and money 
to defend our frontier ; so, as 1 gave you a hint befoi'e, I hope 
you will not forget me and my son ; as we are determined to 
stay on the frontier, and a commission would be of great advao- 
tage to us, and would add to the favors from you. 



Jacob's Creek, May 25, 1774. 

Dear Colonel : — I embrace this opj^ortunity by the express 
that Connolly sent to the G-overnor, to let you know that all 
your servants are well and none run away. 

From all accounts Captain Connolly can get from the Indian 
towns, they are determined for war ; and he has sent to all the 
people of Monongahela, to let them know that a large number 
of Shawanese have left their towns in order to cut off the fron- 
tier inhabitants. This has alarmed the people of our neighbor- 
hood so much that they are moving over the mountains very 
fast ; but I have, with the assistance of some of your carpenters 
and servants, built a very strong block-house ; and the neigh- 

^ This was only a small part of the design in Captain Crawford's move- 
ment down the Ohio, early in May, 1774. The principal object was to go 
as low as Wheeling, to watch the movements of the Indians. It will be 
recollected that he proceeded as far as Grave creek, but saw no savages. 



90 APPENDIX. 



bors, what few of them have ii(ft run away, have joined with 
me, and we are building a stockade fort at m}^ house. Mr. 
Simjjson, also, and his neighbors have begun to build a fort at 
your Bottom ; and we live in hopes we can stand our ground 
till we can get some assistance from below. 

1 expect my son back very soon from you with orders what I 
must do. Until then, I am much at a loss what to do with your 
people and goods. In case I am obliged to move, what must I 
do with your meats and goods ? as it will be hard to get con- 
veyances to bring them over the mountains again ; so I shall be 
glad if you will send me a letter by the express ; as I expect you 
will receive this in Williamsburg, and will have an oppoi'tunity 
to send me back an answer immediately by the exj^ress who car- 
ries this. If anj-thing more has occurred since receiving the let- 
ters I sent you by my son, you can write me. I am, etc. 



Jacob's Creek, June 8, 1774. 

Dear Colonel : — I received your letter by Mr. Cresley of the 
27th of May, and am sorry for the sudden breaking up of the 
Assembly, before they hit on some method to relieve our dis- 
tressed situation ; but it is a happy circumstance for us that Lord 
Dunmore is so warm in our favor.^ This gives us great resolu- 
tion to stand our ground, what few of us are left ; though the 
country is very thin. 

We have built several forts out here, which was a very great 
means of the people standing their ground. I have built one 

^ The Virginia Assembly was dissolved by Lord Dunmore, on the twenty- 
sixth day of Maj', 1774, for having passed resolutions of sympathy with 
their oppressed fellow-citizens of Boston, that port having been closed by 
the British Parliament, to punish them for their audacity in destroying the 
tea in Boston harbor. Lord Dunmore afterward declared that the Assem- 
bly of Vii'ginia had neglected to provide for the exigencies of the border, 
though sufficiently apprised of them. He immediately issued orders to the 
commandants of the border counties, directing them to put their respective 
localities in a proper posture of defense, and, at the proper time, to act on 
the offensive ; as the disposition of the Indians gave no longer any hopes of 
pacification. He declared that he would, at his own risk, supply the bor- 
derers with ammunition. There can be no doubt of his Lordship's sincerity 
in taking these measures for the protection of the frontiers; nor can there 
be any doubt as to his acting in good faith toward Virginia, in negotiating 
with the Indians the peace which followed. 



APPENDIX. 91 



at my house, and have some men to guard it. Mi\ Simpson has, 
also, built a fort at the place where they are building your mill, 
by the assistance of his neighbors and part of j'our carpenters. 
I have been there several times, and have encouraged him all I 
can to stand his ground. I have several times offered him all 
the carpenters and all the servants ; but he would not take any 
of the servants, and but four of the best of the carpenters. His 
reasons for not taking the servants are that there is a great deal 
of company at the fort, and drink middling plenty. He thinks, 
therefore, that it would be out of his power to govern them. 
He said they would run away from him. As to the carpenters, 
he and Stephens, the millwright, had already engaged some be- 
fore the eruption with the Indians. These they are loth to dis- 
charge and take in those you engaged for me to take down the 
Ohio, at least, any more of them than they can conveniently 
work ; as he says, from Indian alarms and the crowds of people 
that come to the fort, he can get nothing done, even with the 
small number of hands he has. 

I will go to Simpson's to-morrow moi*ning and consult him 
farther on the affair, and do everything in my poAver for your 
interest. The thoughts of selling your servants alarmed them 
very much ; for they do not want to be sold. The whole of 
them have had some short spells of sickness, and some of them 
cut themselves with an as, causing them to lay by some time. 
One of the best of Stephens' men cut himself with an adze the 
worst I ever saw anybody cut in my life. He has not been able 
to do one stroke for near one month. This happened in digging 
out the canoes. . . } When I wait on Simpson, if he does 
not take the carpenters, I shall either set them building a house 
at the Grreat Meadows, or discharge them entirely ; for it seems 
almost impossible to keep men close to business at a fort, where 
there are so many people and so much confusion. If they can 
do anything it must be at the [Great] Meadows ; as there they 
will be to themselves. Stephens seems very loth to be dis- 
charged. He says he left some very good jobs to come to you. 

On Sunday evening, about four miles over Monongahela, the 
Indians murdered one family consisting of six, and took two 
boys prisoners. At another place, they killed three, which 
makes, in the whole, nine and two jDrisoners. If we had not 

^ A line here, being unintelligible, it is omitted. It has I'eference, in some 
way, to Mr. Stephens, the millwright. 



92 APPENDIX. 



had forts built, there would not have been ten families left this 
side of the mountains, besides what are at Fort Pitt. We have 
sent out scouts after the murderers, but we have not heard that 
they have fallen in with them yet. We have, at this time, at 
least three hundred men out after the Indians, some of whom 
have gone down to Wheeling ; and 1 believe some have gone 
down as low as the Little Kanawha. I am in hopes they will 
give the savages a storm ; for some of the scouting company 
say they will go to their towns but they will get scalj)s. 

Mr. George McCormick, who carries you this, is to return im- 
mediately, and will bring me an answer. As to your meats and 
other things, I have built a strong storehouse and stored them up 
safe ; and if we could hope for peace soon, I think no people could 
execute your business better than those servants, as they will be 
hardened to the ways of this country, and they seem very well 
satisfied. I believe they will not run away; or, at least, they 
say they will not from you, but will serve out their time hon- 
estly. I am, etc. 

P. S. — Give my love to Mr. Lund Washington, and tell him 
his people are well, but have moved into a fort near his place.^ 



Jacob's Creek, June 8, 1774. 
Dear Sir : — Since I just wrote you, an account of several 
parties of Indians being among the inhabitants has reached us. 
Yestei'day they killed and scalped one man in sight of the fort 
on the Monongahela — one of the inmates. There were two men 
sworn that they yesterday saw thirty Indians. These men met 
about thirty of the scouts some five miles from the place where 
the savages were seen. The scouts immediately pursued them; 
but we have not heard further of them. The party that mur- 
dered the family, about which I wrote you in my other letter, 
was followed by one . . . ,^ a young man that Connolly ap- 

^ The employes of Lund Washington, at this date, were improving the 
tract of land which had been secured for him by William Crawford, as men- 
tioned in George Washington's Journal of the 14th of October, 1770: "I 
intended to have visited the land which [Captain William] Crawford had 
procured for Lund Washington this day, also, but, time falling short, I was 
obliged to postpone it." 

^ There is so much doubt at this point whom the writer intended to name 
as Connolly's lieutenant, that it is thought best to omit the word altogether. 



APPENDIX. 93 



pointed a lieutenant, witii a party of about thirty men. They 
overtook the Indians, released some prisoners, and recovered 
sixteen horses and a good deal of plunder the savages had taken 
from people's houses ; but they killed no Indians. 

There have been several parties of savages seen within these 
two or three days,' and all seem to be making toward the Laurel 
Hill, or mountain. For that reason, the people are afraid to 
travel the road by Gist's, but go a nigh way by Indian creek, or 
ride in the night.'' My brother and I have concluded to take all 
your men and servants into pay as militia, and keep our ground 
until we can get help from below.^ Your letter, which I have 
shown to several people, has been of infinite service to us, as it 
encourages many people to stand their ground in hopes of I'e- 
lief — from what you wrote. But there is one unhappy circum- 
stance : our country is very scarce of ammunition and arms. I 
have, therefore, taken the liberty to write to you to get me two 
quarter-hundred casks of powder and send them as far as Ball's 
Run to my mother's,* or Colonel Samuel Washington's or 
Keyes' ferry, where I can get them up here by pack-horses. I 
want no lead, as we have plenty. 

^N r. M'> 'The leader of the Mingoes, who were depredating at this time in the 
^4. "Jif^ settlements on Ten-mile, Dunkard, Whitel^^ and Muddj' creeks — western 
tributaries of the Monongahela, in what was then considered by them as 
Virginia territory — was Logan, their chief. With him, however, were some 
Shawanese. Up to the last of June, 1774, they had taken sixteen scalps 
in all — when the wrath of Logan, for the killing of his relatives opposite 
the mouth of Yellow creek, was somewhat appeased; but he soon appeared 
again upon the war-path. 

^The "road by Gist's" was the thoroughfare well known as " Braddock's 
road," the route generally traveled by Virginians in going over the moun- 
tains. It ran south from Jacob'.s creek, crossing the Youghioghenj' at the 
home of William Crawford; thence " by Gist's, " the Great Meadows, and 
so on, along the line nearly of the present National road, to the North 
branch of the Potomac. The route by Indian creek did not cross the 
Youghiogheny at Stewart's crossings, but continued along on the north side 
of that river. 

'"From below;" that is, "from east of the mountains, in Virginia." 
* The mother of William and Valentine Crawford had long been a widow. 4 / , 
Her maiden name was Onora Grimes. Crawford, hef first husband, died./ 1 
when the two boys were young. She then married Richard Stephenson. " 
Five sons and one daughter were born of the second marriage, when the 
second husband died. The mother, in her prime, was a woman of uncom- jf' 
mon energy and great physical strength, yet kind in disposition and very -.• 
attentive to her children. She died in 1776. • i' * 



94 APPENDIX. 



I beg of j^ou to assist us, as yo»are better judge of our needs 
than almost any other gentleman. By your letters to me and 
my brother, you seem to be as well acquainted with our distress 
as if you were here in person ; so I ask you to write me very 
fully in your next. I am, etc. 



Jacob's Creek, July 27, 1774. 
Dear Colonel : — On Sunday evening, or Monday morning, 
William Orr, one of the most orderly men I thought I had, ran 
away, and has taken a horse and other things. I have sent you 
an advertisement' of him. I am convinced he will make for 
some ship in Potomac river. I have sent two men after him, 
and furnished them with horses and money. I have also writ- 
ten to my brother, Eichard Stephenson, in Berkeley, and James 
McCormick, to escort the men I sent, and to forward this letter 
and advertisement to you. I should have followed him myself, 

^ The advertisement spoken of by Valentine Crawford was in these words : 
" Five Pounds Reward. 

" Run away from the subscriber, living on Jacob's creek, near Stewart's 
crossing, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, on Sunday night, the 24th 
instant, a convict servant man, named William Orr, the property of Col. 
George Washington. He is a well-made man, about five feet ten inches 
high, and about twenty-four years of age. He was born in Scotland, and 
speaks that dialect pretty much. He is of a red complexion, and very full- 
faced, with short, sandy-colored hair, and very remarkable thumbs, they 
being both crooked. He had on, and took with him, an old felt hat, bound 
with black binding; one white cotton coat and jacket, with black horn but- 
tons; one old brown jacket; one pair of snuff-colored breeches; one pair 
of trowsers, made in sailors' fashion — -and they are made of sail duck, and 
have not been washed ; a pair of red leggins, and shoes tied with strings ; 
two Osnaberg shirts, and one Holland shirt marked 'V. C.,' which he stole, 
and a blanket. 

" He stole, likewise, a black horse, about fourteen hands high, branded on 
the near shoulder and buttock ' R. W.,' and shod before. He had neither 
bridle or saddle that we knew of I expect he will make to some seaport 
town, as he has been much used to the seas. Whoever takes up said ser- 
vant, and secures him, so that he and horse may be had again, shall receive 
the above reward, or three pounds for the man alone ; and reasonable 
charges, if brought home, paid by me. Val. Crawford, 

"For Col. Geo. Washington. 
''July 25, 1774. 

"N. B. — All masters of vessels are forbid taking him out of the country, 
on their peril. V. C." 



APPENDIX. 95 



but all the men, except some old ones, are gone with my brother 
down to the Indian towns. ^ 

Since they started, there have been some savages seen about 
the Monongahela. We hourly expect them to strike somewhere. 
They have killed and taken, within this ten days, thirteen peo- 
ple up about the forks of Cheat river, which are about 
twenty-five miles from me. I would have followed the man who 
run away myself, but I have charge of both of my brothers' 
families, until they return. Besides, if I would leave home, the 
people would all give up my fort, and move over the mountains. 
I have above two hundred people in my fort at this time, chiefly 
women and children. All the men have gone to the Indian 
towns ; and ever since they set off, all their families are flown to 
the forts. 

It seems to me that our standing our ground here depends a 
good deal on the success of our men who have gone against the 
savages. The Governor wrote very earnestly to Captain Con- 
nolly to give my brother, William Crawford, the command of all 
the men that are gone against the Indian towns. ^ They num- 
ber, including the militia that came from below, seven hundred 
men. It was also the wish of the Governor that Connolly him- 
self should reside at Fort Pitt. However, Major McDonald came 
up here, and is gone down to Wheeling, in order to take the 
command; but I have seen several letters from Lord Dunmore, 

^ The expedition " down to the Indian towns," which " all the men, ex- 
cept some old ones," were gone upon, was planned by ConnoUj', at " Fort 
Dunmore" (Pittsburgh), his purpose being to build a stockade fort at 
Wheeling creek, also one at the mouth of the Hockhocking, intending to 
" send parties, at the same time, against the Shawanese towns," some of 
which were upon the Muskingum, others upon the Scioto — northern tribu- 
taries of the Ohio. William Crawford, in engaging in this enterprise, made 
his second trip down the river as captain. The first thing done was the 
erection of a fort at the mouth of Wheeling, which was named Fort Fin- 
castle. 

^ Colonel Andrew Lewis, having been authorized by Governor Dunmore, 
on the tenth of June, to march an army down the Great Kanawha river, 
and erect a fort at its mouth, and then, if thought proper, to attack the hos- 
tile savages in their towns beyond the Ohio, his Lordship, a few days after, 
wrote Connoll.y, then in command at Fort Pitt, as follows: " You could not 
do better than send Captain William Crawford, with what men you can 
spare to join him, to co-operate with Colonel Lewis, or to strike a blow him- 
self if he thinks he can do it with safety. I know him to be prudent, active, 
and resolute." 



96 APPENDIX. 



both to my brother and to Connallj^, and he has not mentioned 
McDonald's name in them.^ I heard by Mr. Brown, the express, 
who told me himself, that, on Thursday last, he parted with Lord 
Dunmore, at Winchester, and he was to proceed immediately to 
this neighborhood, where I hope he will regulate matters him- 
self.'^ 

I have sold all the men but two ; and I believe I should have 
sold them, but the man who is run away had a very sore foot, 
which was cut with an ax, and was not long well, and John 
Smith was not well of the old disorder he had when he left your 
house. I sold Peter Miller and John Wood to one Mr. Edward 
Cook, for £45, the money to be applied to the use of building 
your mill. I sold Thomas McPherson and his wife and James 
Lowe to Major John McCulloch and Jones Ennis, for £65, paya- 
able in six months, with interest from the date of sale. To my 
brother, I sold Wm. Luke, Thomas White, and the boy, John 
Knight. He is either to pay jou. for them, or he loses them in 
case you can prosecute your designs down the river. I took 
John Smith and William Orr on the same terms; so that, in 
justice, 1 am accountable to you for the man, if he is never got. 

1 should have sold the whole of the servants agi'eeable to your 

^ In July, 1774, Major Angus McDonald arrived over the mountains, with 
a considerable force of Virginia militia, which, when embodied with those 
already raised in the West, amounted, accordirig to the above statement, to 
seven hundred men. McDonald " went down to Wheeling, in order to take 
command," as there the whole force rendezvoused. A stockade fort (Fort 
Fincastle) was erected under the joint directions of Major McDonald and 
Captain Crawford. 

On the twenty-sixth of July, about four hundred men, having left Wheel- 
ing, arrived at the mouth of Fish creek,'on the east side of the Ohio, twenty- 
four miles below. Here they determined to move against the Shawanese 
villages upon the Muskingum river, in what is now Muskingum county, Ohio. 
The men were led by Major McDonald. Captain Crawford remained at 
Fort Fincastle. The expedition proved successful. Wakatoraica, near 
what is now Dresden, Ohio, and other Shawanese towns, were destroyed, and 
considerable plunder secured. This was the first effective blow struck by 
Virginia troops in Lord Dunmore's War. 

2 Lord Dunmore left Williamsburg, Virginia, July 10, 1774, for the fron- 
tiers, reaching Fredericksburg on the fifteenth, and Winchester some days 
after. Here he remained some time, to get in order as many men as possi- 
ble for service against the savages. Such as were raised in the counties of 
Frederick, Berkeley, and Dunmore, were put under command of Adam 
Stephen as colonel. About the end of August, they marched for Pitts- 
burgh, accompanied by his Lordship. 



APPENDIX. 97 



letter, if I could have got cash or good pay; but the confusion 
of the times put it out of my power. Out here, we have one 
day i)eace, and the next day war. It is hard to know how to 
act, even if you were here yourself I have been confined at 
home ever since I came up here. I only went down to Fort 
Pitt a day or two, and two of ray own servants and two militia 
men ran away. I followed them, and caught them all down at 
Bedford, and brought them back. While I was gone, two of 
your men, John Wood and Peter Miller, stole a quantity of bacon 
and bread, and were to have started that very night I got home ; 
but a man of mine discovered their design. I sold them imme- 
diately, and would have sold the whole, if I could, or delivered 
them to Mr. Simjjson, but he would not be concerned with them 
at an}^ rate. 

My wagon and team have been at work at your mill for some 
time, hauling timber, stone, and lime and sand for it. I went 
over to assist in hauling some of the largest of the timber, but 
the late alarming accounts of the Indians have stopped the 
workmen, and I have brought home my team. I consider it a 
pity that the mill was ever begun in these times. It appears to 
me, sometimes, that it will be a very expensive job to you before 
it is done. All the carpenters I brought out for you stopped 
work on the sixth of May, except some who were at work on 
your mill; these 1 pay myself I shall observe your orders in 
regard to settling with the carpenters. 

Pra}^ take all pains j'ou can in advertising for the man who 
ran away, to prevent his getting off by water. I am, etc. 



Fort Fincastle,^ October 1, 1774. 

Dear Sir: — In the hurry of my business, I have just time to 
give you a line or two by Lord Dunmore's express, to let you 
know how we go on in this quarter with the Indian War, which 
is as follows : 

His Lordship arrived here yesterday with about twelve hun- 
dred men,^ seven hundred of whom came by water with his 

^This fort, located at the site of the present city of Wheeling, West Vir- 
ginia, was afterward well known as Fort Henry, its name being changed in 
honor of Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia. During the Revolution, it 
was several times assailed by the enemy, but was never taken. 

'^ This number included all the militia brought to the West by Dunmore, 



98 APPENDIX. 



Lordsliip, and five hundred carao,under my brother "William, by 
land, with the bullocks. His Lordship has sent him with five 
hundred men, fifty pack-horses, and two hundred bullocks, to 
meet Colonel Lewis, at the mouth of Hockhocking, below the 
mouth of the Little Kanawha. He is to build a stockade fort, or 
a large block-house, which is to be erected on one of your Bot- 
toms, below the mouth of the Kanawha. His Lordship is to go 
by water with the rest of the troops in a few days. We were in 
hopes of a peace being concluded between his Lordship and the 
Indians; but on Wednesday morning last there wei*e murdered 
by the savages one man and his wife and several prisoners 
taken, on Ten-mile creek. This alarmed his Lordship, much as 
the Indians had been peaceable for some time, and some of the 
defiant nations had met him at Fort Dunmore,^ promising to 
meet him again at the mouth of Hockhocking to accommodate a 
peace,'' which we all hope for, if we can get it on good terms, in 

as well as those previouslj' there under the command of Major McDonald; 
also such as were raised in the settlements west of the mountains. As the 
harvest was then over, it was a favorable time to gather in the borderers for 
the expedition. 

^ Fort Pitt was named Fort Dunmore after it was taken possession of by 
Connollj', in honor of Governor Dunmore. The Pennsylvanians, however, 
still adhered to the old name, which was fully restored when his Lordship 
became odious to the Virginia patriots. 

^In September, while Dunmore was at Pittsburgh, he succeeded in getting 
together at that point a few individuals of the different nations of Indians 
living beyond the Ohio, to hold a treaty with them. They promised to meet 
him, as above stated, at the mouth of the Hockhocking, "to accommodate 
a peace." Major Crawford, with his five hundred men, reached his destina- 
tion in safety, but did not erect a fortification on Washington's land, on the 
east side of the Ohio, but crossed that stream, and commenced, at the 
mouth of the Hockhocking, a stockade, which, as has previously been men- 
tioned, was called Fort Cower — Dunmore, with his division, arriving in 
time to take part in its construction. Meanwhile, Colonel Lewis, with the 
southern division of the army, was moving down the Great Kanawha. It 
had been determined by his Lordship to have that officer, on his arrival 
upon the Ohio, move up stream and join him at the mouth of the Hock- 
hocking. The savages who, at Fort Pitt, promised to meet Dunmore down 
the Ohio, with additional members of their respective tribes, failed to arrive. 
Only two chiefs made their appearance, and both these were Delawares. 
But that nation, it was well understood, was not hostile; so no treaty could 
be made with the enemj'. 

At this time, Dunmore was ignorant as to whether Lewis had reached the 
Ohio or not, a message sent by him having arrived at the mouth of the 



APPENDIX. 99 



order that we maj^ be able to assist you in relieving the jjoor, 
distressed Bostonians — if the report here is true that General 
Gage has bombarded the city of Boston. This is a most alarm- 
ing circumstance, and calls on every friend'of the liberty of his 
country to exert himself at this time in its cause. 

You seem to scrutinize closely the wa.y I have conducted your 
business; but times have been in great confusion here with us, 
and some of the people 1 had to deal with were very great vil- 
lians, and took advantage of the situation. 1 wrote you very 
fully how your affairs, in my hands, were, and I hope you will 
excuse my not giving Mr. Young as satisfactory account of 
things as I could wish. 1 most solemnly declare that I sent you 
several letters which you saj^ never came to hand, and you like- 
wise make mention of some you wrote me, which I have never 
seen. I expect, if it please God that I am spared, to be down at 
your house by Christmas, and to remove those repoi'ts you have 
heard of my conduct, when I will settle everything as much to 
your satisfaction as in ray power. I am, etc. 

P. S. — My trip down the river this Summer will be of advan- 

Great Kanawha in advance of that officer. Another express was thereupon 
dispatched, which, on the eighth of October, found him at Point Pleasant 
(the mouth of the Great Kanawha), where he arrived two days previous. 
But it was impossible for him to move up the Ohio to meet Dunmore, on ac- 
count of the non-arrival of supplies and ammunition, and of a portion of 
his troops. Meanwhile, scouts had been sent to Dunmore by him, who re- 
turned on the thirteenth, with an order from his Lordship to march directly 
toward the Shawanese towns, and join him at a certain point on the way. 
Governor Dunmore now put his division in motion for the same destination. 
On his waj' to the Indian villages, he was overtaken by a courier from Lewis, 
acquainting him with the hard-fought battle of the tenth of October, at Point 
Pleasant, where his army contended all day long with a large force of Shaw- 
anese and other savages, onlj- to claim the victory at nightfall, after a severe 
loss in killed and wounded. On the seventeenth, Lewis crossed the Ohio, 
and took up his line of march for the Scioto, to join Dunmore. 

His Lordship was met, before he reached the Indian villages, with a depu- 
tation from the enemy, anxious for an accommodation; for a peace had 
already been conquered by the Virginians, at a sacrifice of many valuable 
lives, in the battle at Point Pleasant. So the Governor found little diffi- 
culty in arranging for a treaty. But the arrival of Lewis and his gallant 
troops, fresh from the red field of conflict, breathing revenge against the 
savages, was an element difficult to control. However, no order of Dunmore 
was intentionally disobej^ed by Lewis, who was commanded to return to 
Point Pleasant. A peace was negotiated by Dunmore with the Shawanese, 
which put an end to the war. 



100 APPENDIX. 



tage to 5^011 in the event of your tending me down, on your bus- 
iness, next Spring, in case a peace is concluded with the Indians. 
Give my compliments to Doctor Craik, if you should see him. 



[Mount Yernon],i March 23, 1775. 

Dear Colonel : — I came to this place on Friday evening, and 
I should have come down sooner, but I did not receive your 
drafts till a few days before I started, and thinking you might be 
gone to the Congress, I thought it advisable to send them to you 
by Captain Eutherford ; as you might meet with Mr. Lewis there, 
and have them examined by him yourself. 

I hope you will excuse my not bringing down my accounts 
and expense in transacting your business over the mountains, as 
it is not in my power to settle till I have some conversation with 
yourself, and then I will. 

I am in great hopes of settling things to your satisfaction. I 
am informed there have been vicious stories told you in regard 
to my conduct ; but had you been on the spot yourself it would 
have confused you to have heard the complaints of the dis- 
tressed, poor people who came to my fort. I frequently desired 
Mr. Simpson to take the servants and employ them at work at 
your mill.- . 

I sent two men after the man that ran awaj^, and found each 
of them horses, and money to bear their expenses. One went to 
Baltimore, and the other down through Virginia. They were 
gone three weeks, and I could not get the exact amount of their 
expenses, but it will be very moderate. 

I expect to be down in June, and I will, I trust, settle every- 
thing to your satisfaction. As you have been a good friend to 
me and all my ftimily, I am in hopes you shall never suffer for 
your kindness. 1 am fully convinced that it will be in my 
power to pay ever}" man 1 owe a shilling by next fall, if my life 
is spared. If 1 can not raise that money for Fowler, I will, you 
may depend, deliver m3'self up to jail, and clear you. But you 
may depend, without some important accident happens me, 1 
shall be able to i-aise a considerable sum by fail, as I have got so 
much good land for sale, that will command money. 

^ This letter, althoujih no place is mentioned, was written at Mt. Vernon, 
as the context shows. 

^ A few lines, at this point, in the original letter, are not legible. 



APPENDIX. 101 



I should have waited until you cnine homo, but I want to get 
home immediately ; and you may depend that every assistance 
in my power I will give' Mr. Cleveland, in helping him out or 
down the river. AVhen I come down in June, I will bring a 
statement of everything I did for you. I hope to give you full 
satisfaction for every act of friendship done for me. I am, etc. 

P. S. — I have left your honor a belt of peace, which I hope 
you will receive from yours, V. C. 



Jacob's Creek, June 24, 1775. 

Dear Sir : — 1 am very sorry to inform you I received a letter 
from Mr. Cleveland, of the 7th of June, wherein he seems to be 
in a good deal of distress. Five of the servants have run away, 
and plagued him much. They got to the Indian towns, but, by 
the exertions of one Mr. Duncan, a trader, he has got them 
again. He has sent three of them up by a man he had hired, 
with a letter to my brother William or myself, to sell them for 
you ; but the man sold them himself somewhere about Wheel- 
ing, on his way up, and never brought them to us. He got £20 
Pennsylvania currency for them, and gave one year's credit. 
This was very low, and he did not receive one shilling. This 
was contrary to Cleveland's orders, as the latter wanted to raise 
some cash by the sale to purchase provisions. 1 think il would 
be advisable, if the men they are sold so low to are not good, 
to take them from them, and sell them again. But the man shall 
not be stopped for want of money, for I will furnish him, and 
will assist Mr. Simpson in getting started as quick as possible 
with his canoe and provisions. Mr. Cleveland left some corn 
at Mr. Simpson's when he went down, and I will get him some 
flour to load bis canoe. 

Mr. Cleveland sunk a canoe going down, and lost five or six 
casks of corn and several other things. James McCormick and 
Charles Morgan found a bag of clothes and several other things, 
a few days after, as they were going down the river. They de- 
livered them to Mr. Cleveland again, as thej' knew they be- 
longed to his company, by some papers they found in the bundle. 

Cleveland does not mention of his getting any but the three 
servants he sent to be sold, but Mr. Duncan told me j^esterday, 



102 APPENDIX. 

at Fort Dunraore,^ that be got 4,he whole five who ran away. 
Dr. Craik's manager has had very bad luck; for, in the canoe 
that was sunk, he lost all his papers. He was much at a loss to 
find his land, or, at least, to find the corner trees; but I have 
sent him all the plats and junctions I had from the Doctor ; and 
lest a letter I have written to the latter should miscany, you can 
inform him of that fact. I hope to be down in Fairfax as soon 
as ever I reap mj^ harvest, and will then settle all my accounts 
with you. 

We have chosen committees out here and are raising an inde- 
pendent company — regulating matters the best we can ; but an 
unhappy confusion happened the other day. The Pennsylvani- 
ans came to Fort Pitt with the Sheriff and about twenty men, 
and took Major Connolly about midnight, and carried him as far 
as Ligonier, the very night before we were to have the talk with 
the Indians.^ Several of the Pennsylvania traders, by the In- 
dians' story, were endeavoring to put ill into their minds. On 
Major Connolly being taken, the people of Chartier's came in a 
company and seized three of the Pennsylvania magistrates, who 
were concerned in taking off Connolly — Cieorge Wilson, Joseph 
Spear, and Devereux Smith. They were sent in an old leaky 
boat down to Fort Fincastle under guard. Our court, however, 
had no hand in this. It was done by a mob or set of Con- 
nolly's friends who live on Chartier's creek. 

The members of our committee wrote a very spirited letter to 
the gentlemen of the Pennsylvania committee, demanding Con- 
nolly back. All signed it, and sent it with an express. On its 
receijit, they immediately sent Major Connolly back.^ Things 

^ Meaning Fort Pitt— Pittsburgh. 

^In the treaty made at "Camp Charlotte," in October, 1774, between 
Lord Dunniore and the Shawanese, it was arranged that a .supplemental 
treaty should be held in the ensuing spring, at Pittsburgh. His Lordship 
was to inform the chiefs by a message when it would suit him to meet them 
there, to settle some minute matters that could not well be attended to at 
the first meeting. Trouble with the colonj^ put it out of the power of Dun- 
more to again visit Fort Pitt. So Major Connolly was deputed to take 
charge of affairs with the Indians. Only a few Delawares and Mingoes 
could be induced to attend upon his call. While engaged in preparations 
to have a "talk" with the assembled chiefs, he was arrested, as above 
stated. 

^ The information given in this letter, concerning the ai-rest and delivering 
up of Connolly, supplies an important link in the early historj^ of Pitts- 
burgh, heretofore missing. A letter from Ligonier, by Arthur St. Clair, to 



APPENDIX. 103 



now seem to be a little moderated. I believe the Indians want 
nothing but peace ; but it seemed to alarm them very much to 
hear our great man was stolen. Indeed it alarmed us all, as 
Major Connolly was the man that had transacted all the busi- 
ness with them before. No other person was so able to settle 
business with them as he. I hoj^e you will excuse the length of 
my letter. I am, etc. 

P. S. — Please give my compliments to Mr. Lund Washington. 
Tell him his people are well, and in a veiy good way to make a 
good crop of corn. 

J. Shippen, Jr., giving an account of the affair, though known to have been 
written, has long been lost. It seems that the Pennsj-lvania magistrates, 
while confined at Wheeling, " were exposed to every species of insult and 
abuse ; " while the treatment of Connolly, at Jjigonier, was quite the reverse : 
" While Connolly was at my house," wrote St. Clair, on the twelfth of Ju\j, 
"endeavoring to procure bail, I treated him with a good deal of civility." 
The turbulent career of this over-zealous agent of Dunmore, at Pittsburgh, 
ended soon after. On the twenty-fifth of July, 1775, he left Fort Dunmore 
(Fort Pitt), on a visit to his Lordship, already plotting in the interests of the 
mother country against the colonies. He had, indeed, carried matters at 
Fort Pitt "too much in a militarj^ way," as William Crawford aptly ex- 
pressed it. But his rule was at an end, greatly to the relief of Southwestern 
Pennsj^lvania. 



INDEX. 



Amertean Archives, cited, 59. 

Arbiicklo, Captain Matthew, 72. 

Arbuckle, captain of the ship Nep- 
tune, 84. 

Armstrong, John, 2, 9, 

Baltimore. Lord, 51. 

Bassett, Col.. 41. 

Bayard, Phebe, 44. 

Biggart, Thomas, 73. 

Boundary Lino, the Pennsylvania 
and Virginia, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 51. 

Bowman, Col. John, 71. 

Braddock. Gen., 20. 

Brodhead, Col. Daniel, G8, 71, 72, 88. 

Brooks, William, 18. 

Brown, Mr., 96. 

Bullitt, Capt. Thomas, 29, 30, 31, 33, 
3(j. 

Bullskin, 63. 

Burns, Thomas E., 60. 

Butler, Kichard, 68. 

Butterfield's Crawford! s Campaign 
againfit Sandusky, in 1782, cited, 75. 

"Camp Chkrlotte," 54, 102. 

Campbell, Mr., 38. 

Canon, Col. John, 81. 

Captina Creek, 21. 

Carlisle, Col., 15. 

Chartier's Creek, 6. 

Cheat River, 5. 

Chestnut Ridge, 14. 

Chippewas, 60. 

Christy, William, 50. 

Clarke, Geo. Rogers, 71, 75. 

Cleveland, Mr., 57, 58, 101. 

Col. Rec. of Pa., cited, 42. 

Connolly, Dr. John, 30, 40, 41, 42, 45, 
46, 49, 50. 56, 58, 89, 92, 95, 96, 97, 
98, 102, 103. 

Convict servants, brought to Vir- 
ginia and sold, 84. 

Cook, Edward, 96. 

Cooper, Dr., 27. 

Coshocton, 88. 

Craik, Dr. James, 34, 89, 100, 102. 

Crawford, Hannah, vii. 

Crawford, John, 58. 

Crawford, Moses, 18, 57. 

Crawford Sarah, 10. 

Crawford, William, his birth, mar- 
riage, and farm(^r's life, vii; takes 



part in the Old French War, also 
in Pontiac's War, ib ; removes to 
"Stewart's Crossings" on Youghi- 
ogheny river, vii, 1 ; visited by 
Washington, viii, 16; commis- 
sioned judge of Westmoreland 
countjr, Penn., viii, 43; visited 
by Lord Dunmore, viii, 29; takes 
part in Dunmore's War, ix, 49, 52, 
53, 54, 55, 56, 84, 89, 95, 96, 98; 
enters the army of the Revolution, 
ix; his career as a Revolutionary 
officer, X, xi, 60, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 
70, 72, 75; his melancholy death, 
xi ; writes to Washington, 5, 10, 
13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 24, 26, 27, 34, 36, 
37, 40, 41, 46, 50, 52, 54, 57, 58, 59, 
62, 70, 73, 75,— to Tilghman, 22,— 
to John Penn, 42 — to Congress, 64, 
— to Hand, 66. 

Crawford, Valentine, 1, 18, 26, 27, 42, 
50, 52, 53, 56, 57, 58, 63, 64; his 
letters to Washington, 84, 85, 86, 
88, 89, 90, 92, 94, 97,' 100, 101. 

Cresap, Michael, 48, 53, 57, 87. 

" Cresap's," see Old Town. 

Creslejs Mr., 90. 

Croghan, Col. George, 17, 18, 19, 20, 
21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 30, 35, 37, 38, 
40, 48. 

Crosson, Mr., 20. 

Cross Creek, in West Va., 39. 

Custis, Miss, 32. . 

Custis, Mr., 28. 

Dangertield, Col. William, ix, 60. 

Dartmouth, Lord, 54. 

Delawares, xi, 9, 51, 59, 60, 98, 102. 

Dixon, Jeremiah, 51. 

Draper's Meadows, 12. 

Duncan, Mr., an Indian trader, 101. 

Dunkard's Creek, 50. 

Dunlups (Pa.) Packet cited, 54. 

Dunmore, Lord, viii, 27, 29, 30, 31, 
33, 35, 36, 39, 40, 42, 45, 47, 49, 52, 
53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 69, 73, 77, 89, 90, 
95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 102, 103. 

Dunmore's W^ar, viii, 48, 87, 96. 

Elliott, Mr., "of the Bullock Pen,'' 
46. 

Evans, Lewis, 78. 

Evans' Map, 78. 

(105) 



/^ 



106 



INDEX. 



Fish Creek, 96. 

Forbes, Gen., G9. 

Forts: Diinmore, ix, 98, 102; Du- 

quesne, o, 20 ; Flncastle, 95, 96, 97; 

Grower, 54, 55 ; Henry, 97 ; Luu- 

rens, x; Necessity, 16; Pitt, 3; 

Kiindolph, 72. 
Foyle, Kobert, 21. 
Freeman, Thomas, letter to, from 

Washino;ton, 81. 
Gage, Geii:, 99. 
Gayasutha, 49. 
Gibson, Col. John, 09, 70. 
Girty, Simon, 50. 
Gist, Christopher, 20, 23, 93. 
Glen, Thomas, 73. 
Grave Creek, 26. 
Greathouse, Daniel, 48, 87. 
Great Meadows, 16, 17, 23, 24, 26, 

79, 91, 93. 
Greenbrier Kiver, 8. 
Grimes, Onura, 93. 
Haden, Capt. John, 22. 
Hand, Brig. Gen. Edward, x, 66, 67, 

71. 
"Hanna's,'' or Hanna"s town, 44. 
Harrison, Capt. William, 10, 66. 
Harrison, Lawrence, 10, 13, 16, 17, 

18. 
Harvey, John, 60. 

Henry, Patrick, Gov. of Va., 7, 8, 15. 
Hillis, William, 73. 
Hite, John, 16, 17, 37, 42. 
Hockhocking lliver, 53. 
Hodge, Thomas, 84. 
Hooper, Mr., 38. 
Hunter, Dr. John, 43. 
Hursey, Thomas, 60. 
Hutchins, Thomas, 78. 
Hutehins^ Map. 78. 
Irvine, Brig. Gen. William, 75. 
Jacob's Creek, 84. 
Johnson, Matthew, 73. 
Johnson, Mr., 51, 89. 
Johnson, Sir AVilliam, 7, 17. 
Kanawha lliver, the Great, 8. 
Kanawha lliver, the Little, 11. 
Knight, John, 96. 
K^ seek-liee-oong. See Seekonk. 
Laurel Hill, a description of, 14. 
Leet, Daniel, 32, 51. 
Lewis, Col. Andrew, 56, 95, 97, 99. 
Lewis, Thomas, a surveyor, 46, 47, 

51, 75, 100. 
" Licking Creek," 72. 
Logan, the Mingo Chief, 48, 49, 50, 

55, 69, 87, 93. 
Lowe, James, 96. 
Luke, William, 96. 
Machmore's plantation, 64. 
Magistrates of Westmoreland, Con- 



nolly's Address to, 45; answer of 
* magistrates, ib. 
" Maryland back line," 4, 10. 
Maryland Gazette cited, 47. 
Mason, Charles, 51. 
"Mason and Dixon's Line," 51. 
Mason, Colonel, 36. 
JVlc Bride, James, 73. 
JMcBride, Samuel, 73. 
McCormick, George, 92. 
JMcCormick, James, 94, 101. 
]McC]ean, Archibald, 83. 
McCullough, Maj., 96. 
.^McDonald, Maj. Angus, 95. 96. 
McGehan, Brice, 73. 
Mcintosh, Brig.Gen. Lachlan, x, 68, 

70. 
McKay, ^F^neas, 44. 
McLain, Mr., 16, 24, 51. 
McMechen, Dr. James, (McMahan) 

(McMahon), 23, 25. 
McPherson, Thomas, 96. 
Mercer, George, 54. 
Miller, Peter, 96, 97. 
jMilier's Run, 38. 
Mingo Creek, 21. 
Mingoes, viii, 49, 51, 55, 56, 60, 93, 

102. 
Mohican.=, 9, 60. 
Monongahela lliver, 5. 
Monseys, 9, 60, 72. 
Montour, Capt. Andrew, 55. 
Montour, .lohn, 55. 
Montour, Madame, 55. 
JNIontour, Koland, 55. 
]\Iontgomery, John, 60. 
Morgan, Charles, 81. 
Murphy, an Indian trader, killed, 86. 
Murray, John, fourth Earl of Dun- 
more. See Lord Dun more. 
Muse, Col., 41. 
"Neale's Grant," 4, 9. 
Neptune, convict servants brought 

to Va. on ship, 84. 
Neville, Presley, letter to, from 

Washington, 81. 
New Purchase, 53. 
New lliver, 8. 
Ohio Company, viii, 4, 9. 
Old Town, 13. 
Orr, William, a convict servant, 94, 

96. 
Ottawas, 60. 
Pa. Packet cited, 65. 
Peachy, Col. Wm., ix. 
Penn, Gov. John, 42. 
Pentecost, Dorsey, 38. 
Peter's Creek, 38. 
' Petty, John, brother of the Mingo 

liOgan, 87. 
I'ipe Creek, 21. 



INDEX. 



107 



Plnggy's-town, GO. 
Point Pleasant, Jiattle of, 5G, 99. 
Pivston Family, 12. 
Proston, William, 48. 
Proclamation of 1754, Gov. Din- 
widdle's, 11, 78. 
Proclamation of 1763, the King's, 3, 

4, 11, 29, 31, 47, 78. 
Proctor, Capt,, 45. 
Kaccoon Creek, 9. 
Kandolpb, Mr., 75. 
Peed, Gen. Joseph, x. 
Peed, John, 73. 
Jihufs (Va.) Gazette cited, 54. 
Kitchie, Matthew, 73. 
Eoss, Mr., senator, 82. 
Kussell, Col. William, 07, 1)8, 70. 
Eutherford, Capt., 100. 
Salt-Lick^ Town. See Seekonk. 
Sattelihu. 55. 
Scioto Eiver, 30. 
Scott, James, 73. 
Scares, Louis, 60. 
Seekonk (Seekunk), 55, 56. 
Senecas, 9, 49, 69, 72. 
Seven Years' War, 11. 
Sewickly Creek, 38. 
Shawanese, viii, 9, 48, 49, 51, 54, 55, 

56, 59, 60, 69, 71, 93, 99. 
Shepherd, Daniel, 88. 
Shippen, Jr., J., 103. 
Simpson, Gilbert, 60, 84,;86, 90, 91, 

97, 100, 101. 
Six Nations, 6, 7, 49. 60. 
Smith, Devereux, 102. 
Smith, John, 96. 
Sparks' Wrii'mgs of Washington 

cited, 5, 27, 29, 78. 
Spear, Joseph, 46, 102. 
Spring Garden, 10. 
Sijuaw Campaign, 66. 
St. Clair, Arthur, 43, "44, 68, 102, 

103. 
Stephen, Col. Adam, 17, 52, 96. 
Stephens, a millwright, 86, 91. 
Stephenson, Hugh, 11, 63, 64. 
Stephenson, .Tames, 11. 
Stephenson, John, 11, 17. 
Stephenson, Marcus, 11. 
Stephenson, Richard, the elder, 11, 

93. 
Stephenson, Eichard, the vounger, 

11, 94. 
"Stewart's Crossings." vii, viii, 20, 93. 
Stewart, William, of "Stewart's 

Crossings," 20. 
Stewart, William, of Washington 

County, Pa., 73. 



Sute, Phillip, 13, 15. 

Tcnmile Creek, 12, 98. 

Tiiompson, Edward, 46. 

Thompson, AVilliam, 30, 31, 38, 

Tilghman, James. 15, 21, 22. 

Todd, Col. John, 62. 

Tomlinson, Young, 74. 

Treaty of Fort Stanwix, 7, 11, 15, 
53. 

Trent, Capt. William, 15. 

Tygart, David, 21. 

Tygart's Valley, 21. 

Vandalia, 54. 

Viriiinia Gazette cited, 84. 

Wakatomica, an Indian village, de- 
stroyed in Lord Dunmore's War, 
50, 96. 

Walker, Dr. Thomas. 8, 60. 

" Walpole's Grant," 30, 35. 

Ward, Maj., 37, 38. 

Washington, George, letters of, to 
William Crawford, concerning 
western lands, 1, 23, 29, 33 ; makes 
a trip to the Ohio, 17; writes to 
Lord Dunmore, relative to a jour- 
ney over the mountains, 27 ; in- 
forms the Board of War about mili- 
tary affaii's in the west, 67 ; sends a 
letter to John Witherspoon re- 
specting his western lands, 77; 
writes to Thomas Freeman, ap- 
pointing him superintendent of his 
aifairs on the Ohio, 79; describes 
his landed possessions in the West 
to Presley Neville, 81. 

Washington, John, 16. 

Washington, Mrs., 10, 32. 

Washington, Samuel, 16, 93. 

Washington, Lund, 17, 39, 92, 103. 

Wheeling Creek. 26, 39. 

White, Thomas, 96. 

Willis, Mr., 57. 

Wilson, Col., 46. 

Wilson, Geo., 102. 

Wilper, David, 31. 

Winston, Maj. William, 12. 

Witte, Jacob, and son, 27. 

Witherspoon. John, letter from 
Washin<;;ton to, 77. 

Wolfe, Gen., 43. 

Wood, Col., 62, 65. 

Wood, James, 31, 32. 

Wood, John. 96, 97. 

Wy an dots, xi, 60. 

Yeates, Jaspei', 60. 

Yellow Creek. 48. 

Youghiogheny River, 5. 

Young, Mr., 53, 99. 



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